Darkest Dreams
by spree7101990
Summary: Arya Stormblade's life was perfect, that is until she began dreaming of her city and its people dying. She began her journey by searching for help from Sunspears in Istan, when she meets their young general her life gets turned upside down. Set in NF
1. Chapter 1

**Darkest Dreams**

**Chapter 1**

Sighing, Arya glanced over at the fern leaf sticking to her skirt and tugged it so that it was free. It had been too many weeks since she had set out from Vabbi and decided to travel to Istan in hopes of finding someone who could help her. But so far she was unsuccessful. Very unsuccessful. She had managed to ask a couple of villagers where the local Sunspear base was but few had given her straight answers. But she had noticed a growing un-rest hanging around each village and whenever she asked they would stare at her and say two words; corsair and the village of Chahbek.

She didn't know exactly what that meant but she did know that wherever there were corsairs a team of Sunspears were not far behind. So she set out to Chahbek without knowing exactly what she had gotten herself into when she left the relative safety of civilization. The place she was looking for wasn't on any map that she possessed or bought but she was sure that it was near the coast, since there was pirates involved, so she figured as long as she was traveling along the beach she was sure to find signs of human life. What she hadn't counted on was the fact that the landscape around the beach did not consist of white sand and perfect waves; no it was full of green and prickly plant life, cliffs jutting out to heights she wasn't even sure were natural, and waves that stood almost as tall as her-not that she was tall-but she wasn't used to the sea since she had grown up in a country mainly landlocked.

Sure she knew how to swim since she lived relatively close to the Elon River but she wasn't sure she could handle the ferocity of the dark water to her right. So she had climbed back up to the land above the cliff using a rough trail etched into the side of a smaller cliff and had found a used merchant path she assumed led to the town in question. She glanced down at her skirt again and glared at another leaf that had somehow attached itself to the edge of the fabric. She switched her glare to the surrounding greenery that enclosed her and wished it would disappear.

Closing her eyes at the sight she lifted her foot and continued to walk towards her unknown destination.

~..~..~..~

It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky when she noticed that there were no longer sounds or signs of any animal life in front of her and behind her. Arya squinted her eyes to see if she could make out any shapes on the path in front of her, but was rewarded with nothing. Worried a little at that, she pulled the white hood of her cloak further down across her face and slowly proceeded to follow the path cautiously. She slowed when she began to hear the sound of battle not far off from where she was standing and inched her way further into the foliage on her left and continued towards the clearing up ahead.

She stopped as she heard quiet rustling behind her and slowly moved her hand to the small dagger she carried in a pocket of her cloak. When she heard the sound again she twirled to confront the person or thing but wasn't prepared for the sting of a blow to the back of her neck from her left. Agonizingly slow Arya's legs buckled and her eyelids closed before she felt the hot liquid trailing a warm line from where she was hit. Sighing at her unfortunate circumstances she had no choice but let the velvet blackness wrap around her failing consciousness.

~.~.~

Alec shifted his sword in his hand before putting it back into its scabbard at his waist. The fighting was finished and the corsairs were all but eliminated from the town, the only thing left was to clear the debris from the sunken corsair ships, look at the prisoners, and allow the villagers to come back since it was safe. He looked towards the water and noticed a particularly tall and jagged piece of wood sticking out from the surface of the sea. He figured he would have to work on that particular problem before the villagers were allowed into their homes. Signaling to the newest sun spear recruit he ordered two groups to begin disassembling the remains of both ships.

He watched as the recruit nearly hopped to his feet to carry out the orders of his superior, and shook his head. Maybe he was their superior but he happened to be one of the youngest generals in the sun spear ranks, though he would never show that it mattered to him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Koss, his friend and comrade, was walking towards him with a disgruntled soldier following at his heels. Alec sighed before turning around to greet the Istanian and gave Koss an eyebrow in question. "Found this soldier running along the path that outskirts the village. When I asked what he was doing, he said that he needed to talk to you at once, that it was rather urgent. That's as far as I know." Koss followed this speech with a lighthearted glare at the soldier before shrugging his shoulders.

Again Alec raised his eyebrow in question and waited for the man to explain his presence in front of the general. The man straightened before pointing towards the furthest path away from the city and explained that he heard a few corsairs running away from the town. "I didn't think it was that important since I figured they wouldn't get that far without you noticing but then the leader said something about being able to use a bargaining chip against us so that they could leave safely. I was intrigued so I moved closer to the scoundrels and saw that on the back of one of them was a body in a white cloak. After I saw it I turned and fled towards the village so that I could get to you and warn you that they had captured a prisoner of their own."

With that the man slumped as if the telling of his story was too much and was finally relieved of his burden. Alec took one look at the man in front of him before motioning that he should go find some food and rest. He watched as the soldier thankfully bowed his head and took off towards the mess tent. Turning back to Koss, Alec asked the first thing that came to mind. "How many do you think there are?" Grinning Koss looked at the fleeing man before turning back to his general and replied "I think there are about 3…maybe 4 by the sounds of it. Not anything a warrior in the prime of his youth couldn't take out easily…"

Matching the grin of his friend, Alec nodded once and then motioned to another recruit. Without taking his eyes off from the other warrior he said in light tones "Commander Koss is in charge of the village until I come back. I'm going on a little reconnaissance mission, and it won't take me more than an hour or so." If it was possible, Koss's grin became slightly wider before he turned to the same young man and began to bark out orders. Alec, still smiling, adjusted his rune blade's handle so that it rested comfortably on his hip before tossing his soft green cloak over his shoulders and pulled the hood up. Turning towards the path the soldier had indicated he began to jog rhythmically in the direction of the group of corsairs for some fun.

~.~.~

Blinking her eyes, Arya could feel a huge migraine start pushing its way in between her eyebrows so that it thrummed in pressure. It didn't help that she realized she was flung carelessly across a rough shoulder…a shoulder belonging to someone who cared nothing for its burden. Squinting her eyes at the sudden burst of light, she looked around and surmised that they had walked onto some sort of beach and into a type of camp nestled in front of a dark cave.

She thought for a clue to how long she had been out but failed to come up with an estimation of how long except to say that it hadn't been long enough for her captures who had just noticed she was awake. She pulled a particularly fierce glare on her face as she tilted her head up to stare at the back side of the one holding her. She was rewarded with a jostle and a dump on the sands near their feet. Arya grunted at the impact and tried to shift in order to find a more comfortable position on her back, only to feel a sharp twist of pain near her foot.

Shifting a little more cautiously as if testing her strength, she realized with a sharp intake of breath that she must have broken her ankle sometime during her capture. _But when?_ She thought back to when she had first noticed someone following her and then winced in sympathy for her past self when the memory of the blow to her head came back to her. That must have been it; when she toppled forward she must have wrenched her foot in the process. Arya cursed as she realized her chance of escape had just narrowed considerably; she couldn't get away from these thugs nursing a broken ankle.

She sighed again and twisted around to peer at her captors. Two of them had begun to argue back and forth in a language she didn't know and the other two were seated on a log nearby chewing on some…jerky by the looks of it. She looked at the two sitting down and debated her chances of letting loose a good firestorm spell before the other two would notice their friends' charred remains. Sizing the arguing pair up she let the idea go since she figured they would be able to force her into submission by sheer strength alone. Sighing for the third time since she had woken, Arya felt her eyelids drag themselves over her tired eyes. She drifted off to sleep listening to the faint hissings of her disgruntled captors.

Arya peeked over her shoulder in surprise when she realized that the sounds of snoring her captors had made during most of the night had turned into strangled cries of shock and rage. Narrowing her eyes she tried to make out who or what was the cause of such golden misery-according to her any way-but only succeeded in giving her migraine another burst of pain.

Closing her eyes she figured she should take advantage of this un-looked for but helpful opportunity and focused her thoughts on the cords that bound her wrists and legs. Muttering a small and controlled fire spell directed towards her restraints, she felt the twine un-twist and her appendages were freed. Arya slowly sat up without moving her injured leg too much and took measure of her whereabouts.

She was in a small cave, the flames of the torches flickering off of the inky black of the walls. Underneath her she felt the sand shift with her weight and then immediately shot a quick look at the reason for her well timed escape. Not that she had thought much of how she was going to get out of the cave before her "rescuer" realized she was missing and came after her. In the glimmer of torch light she could make out a large figure and a slightly taller and leaner shadow fighting in the corner of the narrow cave. Since Arya could only see one of her captors up and about, she looked for the other three.

She found two still in their bed rolls with their throat effectively slit and another who had such a grotesque look on his dead face she was forced to look away in repugnance. She decided that she would be better off looking for a means to allow her to walk (or run) whichever one was the one to get her out of the mess she found herself in. Twisting to her side she noticed a conveniently placed stick about her size that should hold the majority of her weight. Grabbing it in her hands, she hauled herself up and experimentally moved her hurting foot from side to side. Wincing she realized that she must have hurt it worse than she had originally thought. Arya again looked over to the corner to watch the two men locked in combat and shook her head.

Grimacing she began to inch her way to the mouth of the cave before she pulled her hood back onto her face. She was already nearing the little log camp that the thugs must have stopped at when she awoke before she noticed that she no longer heard the echo of swords clanging against each other in the cave behind her and stopped to look back. Sure enough there was a silhouette of a man standing in the light of the entrance of the cave. She didn't spare another look at the cave and began to move as fast as her injured leg would allow her to. She didn't get far when she heard footfall behind her and realized that they were moving in her direction.

She couldn't afford to wonder who had won that fight and she wasn't sure she was willing to take the consequences in order to find out. She wasn't paying attention to the terrain she was currently crossing and didn't realize what was happening to her when she felt her leg give out from beneath her and the ground became closer and closer. Arya closed her eyes in fear of the pain she knew would be coming once her foot hit the ground but she was surprised when seconds later the spasm she expected never hit. In fact she never reached the ground; she was currently suspended in the air a few inches above the sandy soil and an arm was currently supporting her abdomen from behind.

Perplexed, Arya twisted her head to stare into the two most intense and icy blue eyes she had ever seen in her life. Frowning she realized she didn't know who had helped her and was worried that it probably wasn't the most accommodating person she could meet at the moment. Jerking her body out of the arm holding her up, she fell into an ungraceful lump in the sand and gasped audibly when her foot reminded her of its grievance. "Now why did you go and do that?" Arya watched with wary eyes as the stranger knelt near her foot and took it into his hands. "Stop"

She wasn't happy when the man (she had no doubt that the figure in front of her was indeed a he) paid no heed to her order. "I told you to stop." She accented her order by wrenching her foot out of his grasp and onto the sand near her other leg. She was glad that she had annoyed the person in front of her when she saw him narrow his eyes towards her leg and swiftly glance towards her hooded face. Arya had to stifle another gasp but was too late since the man had smirked thinking she had hurt her foot again at her ignorance. It wasn't why she had gasped…not anywhere close to the reason.

The man those enticing blue eyes belonged to was unbelievably handsome, with strong, perfectly sculpted features that would melt any maiden's heart. But it wasn't what attracted her to the face, not that it didn't help, but the brief glance she had gotten of her rescuer's eyes did not give any justice in the beauty of that cold blue. She wondered briefly what those eyes would look like warmed by an eternal fire but shook the thought out of her head. Mustering what was left of her indigenous stance before she had seen his face she glared again at the man.

"I don't need your help, if it was indeed you who helped me in that cave then you have my gratitude but other than that I ask you to leave me alone." Arya said this in her best court drawl and hoped that the man took the hint that she was just another one of those dense court ladies out looking for adventure. One who wasn't worth the time he could or would spend on her. He didn't take the hint since he narrowed his eyes even further and said in a voice dripping with sarcasm,

"I don't care about your gratitude since it was an obvious mistake; I had thought you were one of my men. But regardless you are a lady, or I assume, and I am honor bound not to leave you out in the wild hurt and alone." Glaring again at the man in front of her, she picked up her stick and tried again to get up without help. Unfortunately it wasn't a task she was currently up to since she felt like all her energy had been drained in that short time she had walked out of that cave and flopped back down onto the ground. The man took another look at her figure on the ground and shook his head in disgust before turning around to walk over to the camp site near them and picked up some stray logs.

Turning around the man walked back to her and began to set up the logs in a way resembling a camp fire. Finally catching on to what he was working on, Arya mustered enough strength to mumble a low level spell of fire so that the logs burst into flames. She gave a satisfied smirk when the man jumped away from the fire so that he wouldn't get burnt. Slowly she shifted again on the ground but realized too late that she had expended too much energy on that little spell and she wouldn't be able to stay conscious any further. Looking at the man in front of her she gave him a shaky smile before closing her eyes and toppling to the side.

~.~.~

Alec jumped to catch the woman before she hit her head on the hard surface of the ground beneath her and gently lowered her onto the ground near him. Doing so he managed to have the hood fall away from her face and he sat up with slight shock. The women lying before him was about the same age as him, but she seemed smaller…more petit than other women he knew. But then he had to admit that most women he knew were in the Sunspear ranks and rather built, not counting the mages, but he usually avoided their kind when he had the chance so his experience didn't count.

Her face was small but its shape fit her body flawlessly and only added to the mystery in front of him. He could tell right away she was beautiful but he hadn't realized that he would personally find her attractive. He wasn't used to being attracted to women since very few were even allowed to be near him. But he had to admit, he had never seen someone at this caliber, and he was fairly sure he wasn't ever going to again. Since he couldn't see her eyes he had to say the most striking feature of the lady was her hair; when he had caught her and the hood fell away he was presented with thick lustrous caramel brown hair that fell in waves around his arm. He forced himself to pull his hand away from her head as his hand had begun to inch its way over to the lady.

Shrugging his own cloak off his shoulders he bundled it in his hands and lifted the woman's head to place it underneath as an extra cushion. Sighing he tore his eyes away from the beauty lying near him and looked at the fire now brightly glowing in the center of their makeshift camp. When she had muttered under her breath a few minutes before, he thought she was just complaining about something but when the fire was lit automatically it had surprised him more than he was willing to admit.

He had been around plenty of mages in battle, even commanded groups of them but he had avoided them otherwise. He wouldn't have guessed that his charge was a mage…he had just thought that she was another noble on a joyride through Istan-she had certainly given him that impression. Looking over to her face he was forced to reevaluate his first thoughts of this wisp of a woman. Puffing out his breath with an aggravated huff he put his arms underneath his head and immediately felt his eyes close in sleep.

~ That's the end of chapter 1…read and review please!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Arya slowly opened her eyes and squinted at the light that invaded her corneas and closed them quickly with a grimace. It was then that she noticed that her head was cushioned and her leg wasn't as stiff as it had been the night before. Quickly she opened her eyes regardless of the sting of light and looked underneath her head. A green cloak was bundled in a way that suggested it was meant to be a useable pillow.

Smiling unconsciously, she schooled her face so that she could look down at her foot. Briefly widening her eyes she was surprised to see that her ankle was in a makeshift splint with different colored herbs around the wound. Shifting her leg she tested its mobility and was disappointed when she realized she wouldn't be able to walk on it as much as she had hoped, which reminded her of her companion and she scanned the camp for the telltale signs of the man.

She was disappointed when she realized she was alone…_wait…disappointed? I don't even know who this guy is…_she jumped slightly when she heard him speak somewhere to her right. "Sorry about the messy job with your foot, it looked like it was swelling considerably this morning so I thought that it should at least be splinted before you get it properly looked at." Arya narrowed her eyes as she watched him walk into her line of vision and pushed herself into a sitting position.

Taking the cloak in her hand she grudgingly let out a forced thank you. She was surprised when he only shook his head as if to say no problem, but she was even more surprised at the fact that although forced it was a truthful thank you. Shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts she pulled the stick that was on her side near her and forced herself up on her good leg.

She didn't notice that he had moved to help her but stopped and stood back to watch the mage struggle to right the tangled cloak on her back. Sighing Arya glanced meaningfully at the man in front of her and was mollified when she saw the smirk at the corner of his lips. After he adjusted her cloak he fixed her with an assessing eye and asked "Are you up to walking to my camp with me? It's only about an hour or so away."

She glanced at him sharply before putting some pressure on her bad leg and shifting it to her good one. After doing this multiple times she looked up at him and nodded slowly.

"You can tell me anytime when you need to stop, I'm not in a hurry so don't worry about time." The man began a fairly fast walk towards the woods and a path just barely visible through the foliage. Arya gritted her teeth at the pace but refused to say anything, so she continued to follow where he led.

It had been at least a half hour before Arya decided she needed to break the silence between the two and suggest they stop so that she could catch her breath and rest her ankle. Sitting heavily on the nearest tree stump she could find she dropped as gracefully as she could manage and looked at her companion. During the entire trip she had refused to make conversation with him since she wasn't interested in making friends and he seemed to be of the same mind because he hadn't said one word to her since they left the beach.

But she had to admit that she was being rather rude to this man that had rescued her, if unintentionally, from the corsair that had taken her. She opened her mouth to saw something but thought better of it and decided that she would say something else. Less detailed and vaguer; it was better that way, the less they knew about each other, the less likely a friendship or bond would form between them. "I didn't tell you thank you back there…for the…you know…fight."

_Lame_, she thought_ I can do better than that. _"My names Arya by the way." She watched as he lifted an eyebrow at her botched up thank you but he; either choosing not to comment on it or deciding it wasn't worth saying anything to at all, nodded. She ground her teeth in frustration, usually when someone offered them their name, the other person would tell them theirs in return. Apparently this man might not be lacking in looks but his manners certainly had a few holes in them.

Shaking her head again she forced herself to get up and began to walk as quickly as she could toward their destination. The sooner she got away from this man, the sooner her headache would be gone.

Alec grinned at the stalking form of the women in front of him and decided that he actually liked her company. He wasn't actually sure why, since they barely talked to each other (his fault there) but he found her expressions entertaining to say the least and he was fairly sure it wasn't just because she was rather cute when she was annoyed or angry.

Glancing away from his charge, he realized they were closer to the village than he thought. Catching up to Arya he pointed ahead and watched as she nodded her understanding before he turned and jogged towards where he knew Koss would be waiting. Stopping in front of the other warrior, Alec nodded his head to the soldiers waiting behind Koss and watched as they returned to whatever task they had been given before he had arrived.

"There were only four of them like you said so they were an easy hit. The fact that they were sleeping with no guards made things even simpler." Koss raised his eyebrow before asking about the figure walking slowly towards them. "And who might that be?" Alec grinned and cocked his head towards Arya's direction, "That would be the bundle in white the soldier mentioned. The corsairs took her not knowing she wasn't a Sunspear, didn't realize it until they had already caught her."

Koss turned his head to look back at his general before returning to stare at the women in white. "Whats she want?" Alec shook his head and followed Koss' stare. Arya was slowly hobbling towards where he was standing and he winced in sympathy when he noticed she had caught her injured foot on a stone jutting from the ground in front of her.

But he stayed where he was; knowing that if he offered his help she would just refuse. He glanced over at his friend and noticed that Koss stood transfixed, staring at the young woman. Alec sighed and remembered his first impression of the beautiful elementalist and lightly kicked the back of Koss' shin to get his attention.

Laughing underneath his breath at the look Koss shot him, Alec turned to Arya as she stood near him. "If you need anything ask Koss here and he will get it, other than that good luck with whatever your journey requires of you. The villagers here will rebuild what's left of this place, but I am sure you can find someone who will let you stay for some extra coins until your well enough to continue."

He watched her face carefully to see if he could tell if she wanted to say anything but she just looked at him with steady green eyes and nodded her head before taking off towards the nearest group of villagers. Slightly annoyed with her lack of expression and gratitude he failed to see, Alec grunted and stalked over to his make shift command camp.

Flipping his tent fold back he threw his cloak off onto the nearest chest and set to work on the missives that had come in whilst he was away.

~.~.~

Shaking her head, Arya glanced back to look at the tent belonging to the man that saved her. 'Man' that's the closet she got to a calling him anything other than a name since he refused to disclose that particular information. She figured he was someone important in this place since the moment she walked into the camp, people always mentioned him in a slight voice of awe.

As if the guy had done something amazing and they revered him as some sort of godsend. But even so, the people who she talked to refused to name him by his real name; always referring to him as general. _Whatever that meant. _It had been a week since she had arrived; she was now staying at the local inn that was newly repaired.

It wasn't the best living arrangements but it was the best she could afford until she could reach the nearest Xoulni agent. Arya had spent most of her coin on a healer to look at her ankle and heal it as best they could. That meant she now had a slightly sprained ankle, but she was able to walk (limp) if she was careful.

She had taken the opportunity to rest her ankle and her mind for the first time since she had left Vabbi. Arya helped do some odd jobs around the Chahbek village for free; apparently these people never had a trained elementalist in their midst and when she revealed that she could cast spells, they came to her now and then to burn large pries or give them fresh water instead of the salt mixed one they usually drank.

She didn't mind it in the least; it was actually rather fun since she had rarely been given the chance back home. It would have been underneath a vabbian noble to walk around with the commoners.

At this particular moment she was watching a small group of children scramble around in the snow she had just created for them. Smiling she waved her hand and more snow dropped near one of the boys startling him with its coldness.

Laughing the boy picked up a ball and hurled the snow towards his friend who then in turn, threw another one back. Apparently, she thought, these kids had never seen snow before. She laughed, thinking about her first experience with the fluffy white flakes. She was young about their age, and her tutor was showing her how to call forth ice in the heat of the desert. Arya had tried to create the icicle but had failed and instead produced snow in the palm of her hand. Shocked, she had dropped the cold puddle onto the ground and turned with wide eyes to her mentor.

He had explained what snow was and the difference between it and ice. After that she had loved the feeling of the cool fluff and enjoyed creating it out of nothing. She was jolted out of her thoughts as she felt a wet blob hit the side of her arm and looked for the source of the perpetrator. She grinned at the wide-eyed expression of fear from the little boy not two feet in front of her and bent down to pick up a fresh batch to form a small ball.

Closing her eyes, still smiling, she aimed the ball with a spell of growth and sent it hurtling at the boy. Opening her eyes she laughed when the ball hit the kid and exploded into dozens of smaller balls that in turn hit his teammates. The boy recovered from the shock and grinned at his friends before bending down to grab as much snow as he possibly could in his small hands.

Her grin whipped off from her face as she realized when the other kids joined in, that she was now the target for their game. Backing up slowly she held her hands up in front of her as a sign of peace but fell backwards as the barrage of snowballs came flying in her direction. She knew now that she was obligated to repay them for the cold that hit her, so she joined into the fight throwing multiple balls at once towards her little attackers.

Alec walked out of his tent with Koss right on his heels and turned at the sound of screaming and laughing. He had thought that corsairs had decided to retake the village but that was far from what was really happening. He watched as Arya shouted some words and dozens of white balls shot out of her hands and hit the remaining children with wet splats.

Worried, Alec moved to intercept more balls but stopped when he saw the kids pick themselves off the ground and return the same ammo at the mage from the white stuff neat their feet. Koss laughed loudly at the expression on Alec's face and gestured to the balls. "Snow." Glancing between the white snow and Koss, Alec walked over to the group and stood waiting for someone to notice him. Shortly after Arya, laughing, picked herself up from the ground and dusted off her skirts.

She laughed again when she saw his face; he had to admit that when she laughed he thought she looked even more beautiful than she had before, and tossed one last snowball at a boy to her left before walking over to stand in front of him. "Yes?"

Alec narrowed his eyes and pointed to the fight that was still going on behind her. "What is that?" She crinkled her eyes in humor but didn't let it show in her voice as she answered with the same word as Koss. "Snow." He growled, "Yes I know its snow, but what in the world are they doing with it?"

She glanced quizzically at his face before turning to look back at the children. "It's a snowball fight. You know…divide into teams and throw snow at each other until one side yields or the snow is used up. It's a game similar to a battle but not so real." He shot a look at her and turned back to the 'game' of snow. "What's the point?"

Arya huffed and spun around to face him, "There is no point, it's just fun." She squinted up at the sun before adding "You know, _general,_ everything doesn't have to have a point. If there was a point in everything then we wouldn't have war now would we?" He shook his head at that statement refusing to say anything since it was something he neither had nor would think about. War was his job and he accepted it just as he had accepted that people would die.

He watched as she waved to Koss before yelling to the children to tell her when they were down so that she could return the snow to water. As she left to talk to Koss, Alec couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. She never talked to him like she did with Koss, but then again he had to admit that it was probably his fault. He had neither the time nor the energy each day after dealing with the Sunspears to go and find out what she did every day.

Koss had seemed to take an immediate liking towards the young mage and had decided to make it his job to make sure she was comfortable whilst she stayed. Shaking his head he looked back over to the kids and walked off to go back into the confines of his tent and the work that came with running a small army of Sunspears.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Arya woke up from her sleep in a cold sweat, again. Shaking her head, she tried to clear the after affects of her nightmare; the same one that had been plaguing her for the past few days. Every time she laid her head down to rest it was always the same; she heard screams of children and parents, saw the bright orange fire that was wreaking havoc on the homes she was standing near, and watched as inhuman figures made a bloody path through what was left of the city…her city.

It was this scene that had prompted a swift departure so that she would be able to prevent something along the lines of what her dreams foretold. But she was deathly afraid that every day she spent here was another day that the dream would become reality. Rubbing the sleep out of her green eyes, she pulled the blankets off and slipped on some sandals she kept near the foot of her bed. She walked out into the moon light and closed the door behind her.

It was a week later after the snow incident and Arya was successfully walking on her foot and was beginning to feel like she should leave and continue on her quest. It wasn't that she wasn't feeling comfortable here in the village; on the contrary she was starting to feel like she was home again. But she knew with what was happening or could happen at her real home she couldn't waste time staying with people that weren't her own; as much as she wanted to.

She looked up at the moons that hung in the sky and shuddered. _Should have grabbed my cloak. _Even though the heat during the day tended on being unbearable sometimes; the nighttime world was colder and darker, but she preferred it to the sun. Arya noticed a little outcrop near the water's edge and moved to sit on a log that had been conveniently placed looking out over the sea. Closing her eyes she tried not to imagine her dream, but instead thought of her life before she had to leave.

She was a vabbian noble, but since she was the youngest in a family of five she wasn't all that special. Though, she was the only one in her family that possessed the gift of the elementals. But she wasn't bragging, nor did she care for all the privileges that came with being a noble. She liked the fact that she was one of the few in her family that could walk through the streets of her city and be greeted with an air of a comrade that few nobles were gifted with. She was happy just to be able to be with her people and feel like she belonged there.

The clothes…now _that_ was one thing she missed. Back home Arya had been considered someone who people would turn to when they had trouble with their wardrobe and she would be only too happy to oblige. Opening her eyes she grinned down at what she was wearing and thought of the irony of it all. Her only clothing left from her city was her mage dress…and she only wore that when she was on the roads and even then it was covered in her over large white cloak.

Sighing she closed her eyes again and again pictured the streets filled with venders and tavern patrons visiting other people or looking for a good drink and warm company. "Beautiful isn't it?" Arya gasped and fell backwards off the log she sat on in shock at the deep voice near her left. Huffing and laughing under his breath, Alec tugged the women back onto her perch and took the seat near her.

She turned and glared at the warrior before asking what he had meant. "The view" he said with a gesture at the sea in front of him. She turned back to look at where he was pointing to and stifled a gasp at the sight before her. Since she was so wrapped up in her thoughts she had failed to notice the view of the area she choose to sit at.

The three moons, in each of their crescent shapes, stood out brightly from their points in the sky and were surrounded by glowing and twinkling stars gathered around in clumps. The sea water had turned just as black as the sky above it and reflected its view perfectly.

Arya didn't say anything but stood transfixed at the sight in front of her and nodded her head slowly. Alec laughed softly at her expression before taking his eyes off from her and back to the scene.

"Alec by the way." At this she turned her head quickly to stare at him and raised a delicate eyebrow in question. "Heard you've been asking around about me, the names Alec since I guess that's what you wanted to know." She glared briefly at him before flashing him a smile. "See that wasn't that hard now was it? Don't know why you didn't tell me in the first place."

She grinned again and stored that particular piece of information away. Adjusting her eye sight, she focused on the man sitting next to her and decided that she hadn't been wrong in her earlier assessment of him. Alec was still just as handsome if not more since she had first set eyes on him.

"Its peaceful out here, it's the reason I am here now. Well that and I couldn't sleep." He flashed her a knowing smile before inquiring the reason. "Dreams" She refused to say anything further on the subject so she stopped looking at him and glanced down at her arms where little bumps were beginning to make themselves known because of the cold air.

Following the direction of her eyes, Alec shrugged off his own cloak and handed it to her without saying anything. She accepted it gratefully and wrapped it around her cold shoulders. They sat in companionable silence before she broke the quiet. "This place and its people remind me so much of home…well not the fact that it's a village instead of a city…but its warmth. The people here aren't afraid of giving help to those who need it." She broke off and glanced at him.

He looked thoughtful until he said "Yeah, they actually surprised me a lot. These people had to go through so much, especially since the beginning of the corsair invasion, since they were the first ones affected. But they still manage to continue their lives as if nothing happened. I'm not sure if I could even do that."

She laughed at that. "The amazing general _not_ be able to adjust? Hmm I'm not sure I buy that one, especially after everything that I've heard about you."He glanced sharply at her and returned the comment "And _you're_ saying that you couldn't do the same? I've seen the way you are with those kids, if you wanted to make this your home, you could." Alec watched as she flinched as if she was struck visibly, and he regretted whatever he had said wrong.

She paused, thinking and then said in a small voice "I can't…my people need me. I'm all they have…"

He waited for her to continue but when she didn't he changed the topic. "Why were you out there the other week? I mean near the beach? Where were you heading?"

Arya sighed and looked up "I was…am on a quest of sorts. I need to find help, and I figured after talking to people along the way, that this was the best place to look for it. I guess I was wrong since the person I am looking for isn't here. Never was."

He heard the catch in her voice when she added that last part and inquired who it was that she was looking for. She narrowed her eyes before saying "Someone who could help me, a Sunspear I guess but every place I've encountered so far was too busy to send for a Sunspear and even when they did they were told that it had to wait." She looked at him with slightly misted eyes before saying, "I can't wait like they want me to, and I shouldn't have to either."

He copied the narrowing of his eyes "And who sent you here?"

"Some headman in the next town near here, he had told me that the one person who could help me would be busy taking care of corsairs near the coast, but that I should ask him anywa-" She stopped and closed her eyes as if she had a headache.

Alec watched her warily thinking along the same lines as she. "It was you wasn't it? They sent me here to talk to you…the _general_" Arya opened her eyes before squinting them at the moons again. "I am so blind, you were right there and I never even noticed."

She shook her head from side to side and Alec watched as the light caught her dark waves in splashes. "Talk to me about what?"

Without saying anything she stood up and faced him, staring at him for a few seconds before walking away to go back to the village. She felt so dense; she had been rude and arrogant towards the one man she was told could actually help here. But even so, she was unwilling to ask him, no beg him (since that's what she probably would have to do) and hope that he said yes. It just wasn't something she was up to doing.

Gritting her teeth she turned around to look back at the outcrop where Alec still sat staring ahead. She had to do it, whether she wanted to or not. This wasn't about her pride…this was about finding someone to help her. And even if she didn't want to admit it…she had found that person in the man who had rescued her from the corsairs nights ago.

She should have seen it earlier and she cursed her thick skull. Setting the line of her mouth in a straight contour and headed back to where she had just left. Arya stopped a few feet from the warrior and looked at him. He was the man she needed, and she knew it. Dawana had sent him to her when she was in trouble and she had responded to the gift with disdain.

But she now hoped that she could correct her mistake. "Sorry, I had to collect my thoughts before I said something that I would regret." She watched as he slowly turned to stare at her before asking what that might have been. She had the courtesy to blush before she cleared her throat. "Nothing, nothing important anyways."

Making her way over to her familiar seat next to him she pulled the cloak tighter around her before letting out a breath she had keep since she had left her hometown. "My home is in trouble and I don't know how I can help it. No one would believe me when I told them; they just brushed me off as a fancy; that it was just a ploy to get court attention. But it wasn't; far from it. I didn't know what to do, and I could tell that no one was going to help me. So I left and I traveled here to Istan hoping I could get the attention that my tale needed so that I could find someone to help…anyone who could help me."

Alec had stayed still the entire time she had talked but he moved his hand to wipe a lone tear that had made its way onto her cheek. "What was wrong?"

Arya glanced hurriedly at his face before grimacing. "This is where I lost people." She took a huge breath before beginning again "My family has been famous for its ability of fore sight. It was in my grandmother's blood and it flows in ours too. She had always said that it was particularly strong in mine and I guess she was right since I went on to study the field of elements. But I somehow disappointed her…my sight never showed up all that strongly; it wasn't as if I tried but it was usually bits and pieces that came to me…all jumbled together. I couldn't make them out until it actually happened so no one really took what I said seriously when it came to those 'visions' and I didn't blame them since neither did I. But it was different this time." She stopped and bent here head to hide her tears that were now flowing freely down her face.

He made a move as if to stop her but she shook her head and continued "This time it was more real, as if it was actually happening. I could see people that I knew and I recognized streets and stores…but it wasn't a happy sight. I knew these places but I was horrified at what I saw……they were burning and whatever I did; spells, screaming, pulling people…nothing. The fires just wouldn't go out. And that's when I saw them…they were hideous…scarred or scaled…I wasn't sure but they looked like snakes and they held canes and sabers. And everywhere they went they hacked at people…people that I knew…my brothers and my father…the baker on the corner…my guards…Everyone!" She stopped again and took huge gulping breaths in order to steady the shaking in her voice.

Arya realized that Alec had put his arm around her shoulders and was now making soothing circles with his hand in order to somehow comfort her. She smiled at him slightly before continuing. "They destroyed everything, when it was finished I stood in a mess of rubble. My city was leveled and I didn't see any survivors and I didn't see the things that caused it either. It was empty of all life…not even the birds flew over the place. And then I realized that I was the only one left, and that if I didn't do something the same thing would happen to other cities and other innocent people. And I turned to walk away but I tripped and then………I just cried……and then I woke up." She closed her eyes again as he wiped up the tears left on her face.

"It always ended the same, and it always come to me in my sleep. But like I said no one believed me, saying that it wasn't the sight; that it was just a nightmare. And honestly I thought that first too but it keeps coming back…clearer and stronger than before each time…as if it's getting closer to reality." She looked at him then with wide, scared eyes and whispered so that only he would be able to hear it and even then he had to strain his ears to catch the breath of air. "I don't want that to happen…"

She shuddered visibly and he pulled her closer to him before she relaxed. Alec could tell that she trusted him enough to tell him something like this, and he understood that she thought that he was her last resort…but he wasn't sure if she was right in thinking he could do something about this…he wasn't even sure if anyone could by the sound of it. But he didn't want to let her down…and he wasn't sure why not.

He glanced at the top of her head resting on his shoulder and said thinking aloud… "If these…visions are getting clearer every time you see them then…when was the first time you saw it and when was the last?"

She stopped shuddering and thought for a minute "The first time was about a month ago and the last time….was…" She looked up at him and her eyes filled with tears again.

He knew what her answer was just as she did. "Tonight, that's why you're out here." He shifted on the log before looking back down at the elementalist. She nodded and wiped her eyes on his cloak. "Alright well I would be stupid not to believe what you're telling me, since it obviously has made you so upset. But I'm not sure what I can do at the moment." He hurriedly continued when he saw that she looked like she was going to say something. "That doesn't mean I won't. It means that you are obviously exhausted and I need time to think about how to deal with this. So I need you to go to sleep and come see me when you are awake tomorrow. I should have been able to figure something out by then…I hope."

Arya felt better by just telling her story but when she saw that he believed her she radiated relief. Sniffling, she agreed with his assessment of her exhaustion and bit back a yawn. She reluctantly pulled herself out of his embrace and began to walk back to her room.

But she stopped and ran lightly up to him and placed a soft kiss on his cheek before whispering a thank you. She trotted back to her room and silently hoped that she wouldn't dream.

Alec sat there slightly stunned at her kiss but he smiled and stood up. He turned in the direction of his makeshift office and sighed grimly to himself. Since he was up now he might as well get started on what he needed to work on. Sighing again he glanced at the place Arya had just walked into and knew that he would have a long night ahead of himself.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was day light when she woke up the second time; probably around afternoon Arya guessed. She tossed her blankets over to the far side of her bed and pulled herself up. Looking around her room, she noticed that there was a red cloak sitting in the corner, near her chair.

Arya stared at the fabric quizzically before blushing as she remembered the night before. _Well at least she did what she had come here to do. _Now all she had to do was find out whether or not Alec was willing to help her, or if he even could. She blushed again remembering her bold kiss she had given him and wondered how he had reacted, since she hadn't stayed long enough to find out. A small part of her hoped that he would want her to continue her advances on him but then another part of her said that he didn't like her like that anyways.

Arya sighed before she slipped into the silver elemental robes. She tugged on the fabric of her top and decided that she didn't need her cloak this time since she didn't plan on leaving until she found out what Alec had to say. She paused for a second before grabbing Alec's green cloak and carrying it out with her. She smiled at the villagers she passed and stopped to pay for a warm sweat roll for her breakfast…or lunch.

As she bit into the roll she closed her eyes smiling at the delicious taste of the bread and nodded her thanks to the baker. She slowly walked over to the tent that she knew Alec would be in and paused thinking of what she would say when she saw him. She didn't have much time though since Koss had stepped through the thin layer of cloth that served as a door and was staring, surprised, at the elementalist.

Arya waved at him since her mouth was full of the roll and motioned to the inside of the tent. Koss seemed to know what she meant by the gesture and responded only with a nod and a thoughtful face. Worried she walked in the dark interior and realized why Koss had looked at her weird. Sitting at the desk in the middle was Alec, looking as if he hadn't slept after their talk at all, immersed in reading a letter in his hands.

A messenger, she guessed, was standing off to his right looking anxious. Without making any further noise she backed out of the tent and bumped into the waiting Koss. "Ouff…Koss! What the hell!"

Arya looked over at the roll that had dropped from her hand and onto the sand in dismay. She would no longer enjoy that taste…Koss laughed at her expression and gave her a hand up. "I would have told you to move but I didn't have much time before you came hurriedly out of there."

She glared briefly at him before asking him what was going on. "Alec sent a messenger out last night about something but he won't say what and the guy just came back a few minutes ago while you were asleep or at least that's what I thought you were doing."

He gazed at her for a minute before turning to look at the tent flap. "Yes I was, when do you think he will be done?"

"Now."

Arya jumped slightly but turned around and raised an eyebrow at the Sunspear general standing front of her. "Sorry, but the letter was important. You can come in now, Koss you too."

He opened the flap so that Koss could brush past him and was surprised when Arya stopped in front of him and handed him the cloak. She smiled encouragingly at him and walked into the tent. "Okay so what now?"

Arya watched as Alec sat into the chair behind his desk and began fiddling with the letter the messenger had brought. "Now we go to the Sunspear headquarters near Kamadon."

Arya was confused and said so. "Well I can't go anywhere until I formally speak to my spear-marshal, Kormir. I have written her a letter explaining the problem…but she says she wants to speak with you herself, Arya, and that I am to escort you there along with Koss and a few recruits."

Surprised Arya asked "What about Chahbek village? What about the corsair?"

Alec looked up at her and thought for a moment before answering. "They will be fine, I am to leave a small contingent of Sunspears here to protect the village and I have runners posted from here to Kamadon should anything happen whilst I am gone. Besides this village has survived so far and I am sure it will now."

Arya nodded her head but she still felt unconvinced; these people had sort of become family to her in the weeks she had spent here and she was loath to leave them unprotected. But she had watched the Sunspears practice and knew that if they were here, even a small force, everything would be fine. Or so she hoped.

So far Koss hadn't said anything but he now spoke up. "So………Why are we leaving again?"

Arya looked back and forth between Alec and Koss, "You mean you haven't told him?"

Alec looked cross as he replied with an inaudible no. She sighed before explaining a shortened version of what she had told Alec the night before. After she had finished Alec had a visible wince making its way towards his mouth as he watched Koss staring at the mage.

"A _vision?!?_ We are doing this because she had a dream??"

If Arya could kill with a single word Koss might be dead but fortunately for him she couldn't. But she could aim a well placed fireball towards the warrior's groin. As she was preparing the spell, Alec hastily stood up to place himself between warrior and mage as if he figured what she would do.

"Arya if you could wait outside for a few minutes, I would like to talk to Koss alone. In order to explain the...umm situation to him, I mean."

Still glaring at Koss, Arya nodded and stalked out of the tent. Stupid males…It was the same as home. The women wanted to believe her but was shut out when the so-called superior male merchant princes and nobles had laughed in her face and called her a child who should stick playing with fire and water.

She continued to glare holes in the side of the tent as she grumpily went over to the bakers she had bought the roll from earlier. Without looking at the man she ordered another one of those rolls and handed him the money without counting.

Grabbing the roll, she smiled once and told him to keep the change. She turned on her heel and sat down next to the tent and listened to the yelling that was heard from within. She smiled grimly to herself before taking a bite out of her roll. At least he was getting yelled at. It proved to her that Alec actually believed her and that thought alone made it worth being not believed from others…almost.

She cringed as she heard something being knocked to the ground by a strong hand, and wondered who it was that threw it. Taking another bite she heard the tent flap slam back near her hand and she jumped onto her feet before glaring again at Koss. He glared back at her before he turned and stalked off towards the training grounds.

Probably to let off some steam. She couldn't help but conjure up a snow ball in her free hand and throw it towards Koss's head. She hit dead on and watched with satisfaction as Koss yelped in surprise, scrambling to remove the cold snow from underneath his armor. He turned to glare at her but then laughed and continued towards his destination.

"Was that really necessary?"

Arya, still laughing, nodded her head and offered Alec a piece of her roll. He accepted but only before smiling at the twos behavior. Still chuckling under her breath, she munched on the rest of her roll before turning with a serious face to Alec.

"Are you sure you should do this? I mean…" Alec looked thoughtful again but he nodded his head quickly. "It's right and besides, I believed you when you told me what was wrong last night, and I think Kormir does too. Or else she wouldn't be that interested in you."

He smiled at her before excusing himself, "I should go pack up this place so that when we leave, we are leaving tonight by the way, we can leave without any problems. You should pack up too. Meet me in front of the northwest path around nightfall." She nodded and turned to walk back towards her room to gather what she had left of her possessions. She would leave some extra coin to the owners of the inn since they had been almost too generous towards her during her stay with them.

But she would also leave a few of her things that she knew she wouldn't need in the local Xoulni chest. She sighed and wondered how her quest would unfold now that she had acquired two new traveling companions…one she looked at differently than the other.

~.~.~

It had been four days since they had set out from Chahbek village and Arya was beginning to regret agreeing to go with them in the first place. Koss was driving her crazy since he was always mentioning under his breath, making sure she heard it, that this was just a fool's errand. Of course though he never mentioned his thoughts to Alec, and if the general happened to overhear one of his mutterings directed at Arya…well then Koss was not sleeping near the fire that night.

The other reason for her misgivings about the trip was the Sunspear recruits that trailed them. When she had lit the fire with a short flare spell the first night they had camped out she was flooded with questions from the elementalists in-training. Now three days later they had yet to cease their questions and she was growing tiresome of the constant presence of the five. Even when she wished to be alone they somehow managed to sneak up on her and scare the hell out of her, and as much as they apologized and pleaded with her to forgive them for their audacity, they always returned minutes later with some question about a meteor showers radius or the effects of an ice spear on a target.

Arya sighed as she sat down on the space she had claimed. It was night and everyone had gone to sleep…well not everyone since she remained awake. She was supposed to take turns on watch but she hadn't felt the need to wake Koss…especially since he would just mutter and blame her for his own misfortunes while she tried to sleep. Alec had told her that he would take over her watches but he seemed to realize his mistake when she blew up at him for treating her like some princess who needed to be coddled, and had stopped pestering her.

He was, right now, curled up facing the opposite direction from her perch on her stone and seemed to be snoring peacefully. Not that she cared. They hadn't had much time to talk with each other, but when they did they never talked about anything personal; it was all business with him. And, she thought, that was what probably bothered her the most.

He acted like the night she had talked to him never happened, unless it was to comment on her dreams. And when they did talk about her dreams he wanted to know everything he could about them before they reached the Great Hall. She didn't mind telling him what she could but every time they were together he, unknowingly, grated on her nerves. She almost wished she hadn't told him about the visions, since maybe she could have gone on with her quest without the extra feelings she cared for the warrior. Not that it would have mattered; she would have most likely ended up at the Sunspear Great Hall anyways, and with her luck met him again without meaning to.

Arya sighed once more before looking around the makeshift camp to make sure that nothing was out of place. Nothing; after her first encounter with the locals of this region she was surprised that nothing had fallen across their path except for the occasional juvenile termite. _I guess his reputation precedes him._ She stared at the back of the general and couldn't help but let a small breath escape her; he was even unbelievably handsome when he was sleeping. "You know if you keep sighing over there, everyone in this camp is going to be breathing down your neck for you to shut up. People _are_ trying to sleep."

She jumped, startled, and for the second time in the presence of this guy she flopped on to the ground behind her stone. _Smooth, Arya, real……smooth. _She groaned at the impact and heard stifled laughter from where she knew he had been curled up on his bed roll.

"Why do you keep doing that?" She whispered indignantly. Arya heard him approach where she had fallen and in one swift motion he had her sitting back up on top of the rock.

Alec grinned at her and whispered back "Doing what?"

She blushed and shook off his hand on her arm. "Nothing, anyways why are you still up?"

He raised an eyebrow at her before replying, "Why are you?" She stopped, glaring at him, and said "I can't sleep so I took first…and second watch. Besides, what is the point of waking someone who is already sleeping?"

She shook her head and watched as his eyes narrowed before returning to their original shape, "Something keeping you up?" She bit back a retort and whispered a no.

"Then what's the problem? You haven't slept much at all since we left the village…I know since I have been watching you."

At the last statement she couldn't help but blush, thinking about her earlier thoughts about him. She would have loved for him to say something like that to her, but right now she was just annoyed. "What for? I don't need a baby sitter."

Alec didn't say anything for a few seconds before his face returned to his blank one that he had on when he talked to the recruits or dealt with Sunspear business. "Well I apologize for my assumptions. Now as much as I know you don't want to, I will ask you to go to your bed roll and try and get some sleep. I will take over the watch for the rest of the night."

His tone didn't say that it was a request; he was telling her…no ordering her to leave. That… well she wasn't used to being bossed around by people and she especially didn't like it when he did it. "Excuse me but I think if I want to sit here I can; regardless of what you tell me to do. It's your choice if you want to take over the watch but you can't tell me to leave just because you don't feel like going back to sleep yourself."

She squared her shoulders and glared at him for emphasis and then looked away. She listened as he controlled his breathing before moving to sit on the ground a few feet from where her rock was. She refused to even look at him as she returned to her thoughts, but before she really got anywhere she heard Alec grumble under his breath.

"What?"

He looked up at her and then looked back down at where he was sharpening his sword, "Nothing."

Irritated, she wouldn't let it go, "It wasn't anything, because if it was I wouldn't have heard anything. So now I'll ask again, what?" He visibly ground his teeth as he looked at her but refused to say anything on the matter and continued with his sword. She huffed in annoyance and turned her back from him and leaned back to look at the night sky.

They stayed there in silence until she decided that it was rather boring talking to herself in her head and mentioned her thoughts aloud, "You know, the sky here looks totally different from home. Less clear, but still just as bright." She noticed that he had stopped grinding the sharpening stone against the metal of his rune blade and assumed he was either looking at her or at the sky. "What's it like?"

Confused, she turned her head to look at him before asking what he meant. "Your home…never been to Vabbi so I wouldn't know what it's like." Arya stared at him.

He had never asked her about her home, never even asked her any personal questions to begin with; so she was rather confused as to why he wanted to now. She turned back to look at the stars before answering his question. "It's warm, I mean not just the weather but the people too. Not the nobles…they can be rather hard to handle at times, but the townspeople…well everyone knows everyone. Whether you like it or not. There isn't much crime; so we don't see much of your order in my city, but there have been cases. I mean if there hadn't I wouldn't have thought to come here and look for help from you guys."

At that he turned to look at the mage but he didn't seem to see what he was looking for since he turned away and worked on his sword. But his head was at an angle; which meant he was waiting for her to continue.

"During the day the sun is so bright that you think it can't get any closer to earth than where it sits in the sky. And at night…well the sky is so clear that it looks like a deep void of nothingness…like something sucked up our blue sky and hung little lights in its place. And the sunsets…well let's just say that I have yet to see anything of its like around." She chuckled and turned back to him, "It even beats that one that I saw with you the other night. The cliffs have grown on each side of the city and it looks like it rests in a large bowl that the gods carved out with their spoons. But I think the thing I miss the most is the colors."

She gazed around at the natural beauty of the wildlife that grew around her and her eyes glazed for a second before they turned on him. "The greens of the jungle here is another beauty, but I prefer the oranges, purples, and yellows of my homeland. Someone could say that they've seen everything but not many can boast that they have seen the inside of one of our caves. All the colors man can think of and more…"

She sighed longingly and her eyes drifted back up to the sky before closing. Alec had stopped working on his blade and was staring at the young woman who was next to him. The way she described her home…with such a longing that he wished that he could pick up the camp and return with her to where she belonged.

He shook his head and set his stone down near his the handle of his blade. "Sounds perfect."

As if brought out of a trance, Arya turned to watch his face, looking for signs that he thought she was a fool for being so sentimental about a place so far away. All she saw was a sort of longing that was a twin to the one she felt. Curious at this new change in him she asked "What about yours? Your home I mean…"

His blue eyes that had been somewhat warm before now turned to ice at the mention of his home. "Don't have one." She contemplated for a moment on what to say but thought better of it when his eyes didn't change back to their normal hue and stayed silent.

"You talk about your land but is there anyone you miss back there? Like a husband or a lover?" At the mention of a lover her face lit up like a cherry but since she wasn't turned towards him any longer she was glad he wouldn't be able to see.

"Don't have one…I mean I'm too young to marry and none of the men at home seemed to interest me much. Though, my mother was pushing this rather arrogant man on me just before I left. Said that a man was just the thing I needed to take my mind of my visions. If she really thought that I think she at least could have taken the time picking one out that was worth holding a conversation with. This guy knew almost nothing about anything and he liked to brag about it too, only thing he was good at was his sword and his natural charm…and to me it just oozed off him in thick green tendrils of slime."

Alec laughed loudly at the image her words brought to his mind and was glad that she had a good sense of humor. Secretly he was also pleased that she wasn't taken, though he would never admit that particular fact to her.

She continued "You know being in my family…well its different. I'm the only one who was blessed with the ability of the elementals and since I am the youngest…well I don't think my brothers and sisters appreciated the slight of being passed over. But then again it's my family sooo who knows. And then theres Silas…but he is an entirely different character all together sooo"

He nodded his head as if he understood perfectly, though she guessed he was just acting as if he did. They stayed silent before he cleared his throat. "I don't mean to be a bit presumptuous here but……I really think you should try and get some sleep, we have a long day ahead of ourselves since we will be in the Hall before midday and I think you'll need all the rest you can get. Trust me on that."

Arya stopped fiddling with the end of her cloak and glanced at him between lowered lashes. "Is that a guarded hint for me to stop talking and leave you in peace?" Alec sputtered an inaudible 'no' before he stopped and glared as Arya burst out laughing.

"It's okay, I know what you meant and I know that your only being nice…though I do feel the need to remind you that being nice can be just as irritating as being a jerk. But I think I will take you up on that 'suggestion'." She laughed again at the perplexed look on his faced before skipping off her rock and moving towards her bed roll.

She stopped herself a few feet away from her roll and turned to look back at him. Arya stood still, thinking that it would be so easy for her to fall for someone like him…so easy. And as much as the thought appealed to her she had a job to do…she couldn't be thinking about things like that. She closed her eyes and let out a little breath.

"Night"

Alec watched her as she tucked herself underneath the furs that served as light blankets and muttered a 'good night'.

Unknown to the two of them there had been a third party in their conversation, one they thought to be asleep. Koss grinned mischievously and thought that they were coming along nicely. He had been worried when he watched as, for the past few days; his friend had avoided the women as if she had the Canthan plague.

He was beginning to grow frustrated as the two of them danced careful steps around each other, but he now knew that both of them felt the same way about each other. Even if they hadn't realized it themselves. Koss grinned again and thought that when they got to the Great Hall he would involve Melonni in his plan and see what happened. Nodding his head slightly, the gruff warrior chuckled under his breath, before quickly changing it into a loud snore as Alec glanced at his bed roll in suspicion. _This will be fun, just wait…_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

After her speech last night, Arya was rather proud of the beauty of her homeland and was fairly sure that there was nothing that could take her breath away like it could…but then she walked into the courtyard of the Sunspear Great Hall, she was forced to stand still so that she could take it all in. Her companions gave her strange looks but her pride and vanity weren't worth the trouble. The buildings on the other hand…well she had never seen the like before but somehow parts of them reminded her of some of the architecture of Vabbi, but then some also reminded her of the old style of Elona before the land split into three provinces.

It seemed that the Sunspears had taken in parts of each culture and created their own, without diminishing the significance of them. They had created a place where all of the cultures of Elona had come together to create something beautiful and somehow majestic in its own right. And somehow that fact alone was the reason that the Hall could stand up next to her canyons, royal halls and caves of her homeland in Arya's mind. She stood staring until she noticed that Alec had stopped in front of an older woman and another younger woman of about Arya's age. Curious she stole her eyes away from the sight of the Great Hall and turned to greet its inhabitants.

Walking up to the older women first, since she seemed to have more rank than that of the woman next to her; she flashed the woman a bright smile and bowed slightly. Alec took that as a sign to introduce the two and quickly gestured to the one Arya had noticed first.

"Arya this is Kormir, Spear Marshal of the Sunspears and Kormir this is…" "Arya Stormblade of Vabbi." Kormir raised her eyebrow at the mention of her full name but turned to her companion and motioned her forward in order to introduce Arya to her. "Lady, this is my good friend Melonni of the dervish art." Arya studied the young woman before nodding her head in her direction. She glanced at Alec out of the corner of her eye and was amused when she realized he was still trying to puzzle out the introductions. He turned to give her a confusing stare and, with a raise of his own eyebrow, prompted her to explain.

Arya had just opened her mouth before Kormir told Koss and Alec to bring the recruits that had come with them over to the barracks while she talked to Arya. Alec nodded his head to show that he understood the order but gave Arya a look as if to tell her that she wasn't out of the explanation and then turned to follow Koss as he showed the recruits their new home. Arya turned back to Kormir only to be surprised when the spear marshal was studying the interaction between her and Alec.

The older woman smiled as if just figuring something out and finding it to her satisfaction before bowing to Arya and motioning to Melonni to do the same. "Lady Arya I am glad to make your acquaintance, if there is anything I can do for you then I beg you to only ask it of me." Blushing scarlet Arya waved her hands to show that both women could get up.

"Please! Don't be so formal with me; I am here to request your help not the other way around. Besides I'm not that important anyways." That last part she had muttered underneath her breath but at the thoughtful look Kormir had on her face, she was fairly certain she had heard it. "Yes, well, I am most anxious to hear about that subject but I must ask you to hold off from it for a bit, I have other…more pressing business to attend to at the moment but believe me tomorrow morning I will make it the first on my list."

Arya was slightly miffed at the idea of her problems being put to the side but she understood that Kormir was the commander of the protectors of Elona and most likely did have more pressing matters that she had to deal with compared to her problem. She only nodded and smiled, showing that she understood. Kormir gestured to Melonni "Melonni here will escort you to your rooms that I have prepared for you and will show you around the Hall if you ask of her. For now I must leave you."

Kormir stepped up to Arya and placed a soft kiss on her forehead before stepping away and smiling warmly at her. Arya, eyes wide, gave her a shaky smile and watched as the dark haired marshal walked away to take care of her business. She then turned to study her new companion. Melonni was about the same height as Arya but she was slightly more muscular around her torso. She had on a light blue dress that was the traditional garb of someone in her profession but with small additions of the Sunspear emblem hanging on cloth tied to her skirt in different angles.

Her hood, usually kept up during battle, was currently pulled away to reveal a small but sharp face that was pretty in her own way. The most striking feature of the young dervish was her wispy brown hair that she let down with different jewels and metals charms braided in. Arya was impressed with the woman with just the first assessment; she didn't even have to talk to her to know that they would be great friends…somehow she just knew it. Melonni smiled warmly at her as if she had the same thought and grabbed Arya's arm with her own.

She pulled her towards a large door frame that most likely led into the main hall of the Hall and chattered frequently about certain facts or histories that she thought would interest Arya. Arya smiled and nodded along with Melonni but the truth was that her mind was elsewhere. The look on Alec's face had worried her since she wasn't sure if she was ready to tell him about her family…especially about her family. But she knew that if he asked she would tell him, and she didn't know how he would react to finding out she was a vabbian princess…even if she was the youngest in the family.

Arya mentally cringed at the image of his back facing away from her, ignoring her because he thought that it wouldn't be proper for someone like him to be involved with someone like her. It was what all the men she had grown to care about out of the noble line had done when they learned of her royal birth. She had begun to think that it was better if no one knew and she preferred that she wasn't treated differently because of it. She was quickly brought out of her thoughts as she noticed that Melonni had stopped and they were now standing in front of a large doorway. She glanced at Melonni questioningly.

"Your room…now if only I could find the dang key…" Arya giggled at the perplexed and frustrated expression on her new friends face before pointing to a string around Melonni's neck. "That it?" Melonni blushed as her hand went up to clutch the key attached to the string. "Knew I put it there to make me not forget…good thing you pay attention to your surroundings better than I do or I think we would have had to find a locksmith to come down here and pry your door open!" She laughed and inserted the key into the lock and turned the handle on the door. Arya glanced around the room surprised that they had such a luxurious room in a military oriented building.

Melonni must have read her mind since she laughed again and gestured to the room and its contents. "Kormir likes her guests to feel welcome and since she has an interior decorating streak sometimes she furnishes the rooms herself. I think she just finished this one…nice isn't it?" Arya just continued to nod as she searched the room and the adjoining bathing room. "It has a bath? With warm, clean, scented water? …An actual bath?"

As she said this, Arya's eyes lit up at the idea of an actual bath; she hadn't experienced a real one since she left the ship near Kamadon. Melonni laughed at her face and gestured towards the room, "It's all yours, for the time being anyways. I figured you would want a bath as soon as you got here so I took the liberty of filling it with warm water for you. If you want I can wait here until you're finished and we can go down to din-…"

Melonni was unable to finish her sentence since Arya had squealed loudly and jumped her so that they were both on the floor laughing. Arya jumped up and rain to the bathing room before grabbing a towel and yelling "Thank you! Oh thank you so very much! You have no idea how much I missed baths!"

She closed the curtain that served as a door and stripped down until she stood naked before the circular pool that served as the bath tub. She gingerly stepped her foot into the water and squealed in delight a second time before barely restraining herself from throwing her body into the water in a matter of a few mille-seconds. She heard Melonni say something from the other room. "What?"

"I said the shampoo is on the shelf near your right, take your pick of scents. The rose smells delicious if I do say so!" Arya laughed and waded over to the shelf she had indicated and grabbed a couple of bottles, sniffing in order to find the right scent. "So how long have you known Alec and Koss?" Melonni didn't answer right away and she assumed she was working on something behind the curtain, so Arya continued massaging the soft soap into her long brown hair until she was sure she would be able to run her fingers through easily when she dried it.

"For years, though I've known Koss since I was a kid, we grew up in the same village." Arya dunked her head under water and rinsed the remaining soap out of her hair before grabbing a glob of body soap and lathered it into her sore muscles. "Huh and how long have you been with the Sunspears?"

"Since I was thirteen, but I had begun my training early at my home so that I could follow the dervish ways beforehand. I came here to prefect them." "Wow that's impressive, I always wondered what your profession was like but I wasn't brave enough to attempt the art myself. Stuck with the elementals." Arya stepped reluctantly out of the now luke-warm water and wrapped the towel over her body to contain some of the warmth. "Wow, I'm surprised; I didn't know your family carried that trait with them. I mean I know now since Kormir said something but still its rather surprising hearing it from you" Arya glanced at her old clothing and grimaced. Now that she was clean she was loath to put on clothing that was dirty and stank from the days of travel here. But she wasn't sure she was going to be able to find new clothes when she was just a guest.

"Yeah they were surprised too, but they figured since I am the youngest then it was just a fluke." She grabbed her clothing and walked out to where Melonni was waiting before stopping in surprise. "What's that?" Melonni smiled and took the clothing in Arya's hands and throwing them into a basket near the foot of her new bed. "The maids will take care of those; clean them and what not. And in the mean time I also took the liberty of finding you something different to wear!" Arya gazed down at the pieces…yes pieces…of clothing Melonni pointed to and colored at least three shades of red. "I…I…I....I can't wear those!"

Melonni only stood staring at Arya before telling her pointedly that she wasn't going to put on what she was wearing earlier. "But, people will see…." "Oh well, from what I can see in front of me you have a great body so you shouldn't hide it behind those bags you call robes. Besides it's the tradition garb of a master elementalist and from what I gather you're further than a master. So hurry up…I'm hungry!"

She winked before sitting down on the edge of the bed and folding her arms to stare at Arya. Arya glanced between her and the clothes before letting out a sigh of defeat and fingered the cloth between her hands. It was smooth and silky; seeming to weigh nothing at all but at the same time she could just hear and taste the strengthening spells encoded into the fabric. She had to admit that even though there might be less cloth than she was used to; it was made from a superior material and probably would protect her better than the other ones she that was wearing could. They were also one of her favorite colors…yellow and black.

Arya smiled and began to dry herself off but had to ask for Melonni's help when she began to try and put the robes on. About fifteen minutes later Arya's hair was combed out and pulled back slightly with a gold clip Melonni gave her and she was now fully garbed in the clothing that her order wore. Arya was surprised at herself when she stood in front of the mirror a few seconds later. The person standing there wasn't the person she was used to looking back at. She was wearing robes that showed pieces of her skin she would never show in public before but now she felt she had the courage to; it was wrapped around her body in complex twists and ties that without help she would never have figured out. And the cloth shifted comfortably against her bare legs as she moved to turn around.

The pieces of silver that dangled on each ends of the pieces of cloth moved and twinkled in the fading light and she was fairly certain that people would notice her as soon as she walked into the room. Melonni had gushed and 'oohed' over her appearance saying that she could definitely see the royal blood in her veins; that she was absolutely stunning. As she gazed at herself, Arya had to agree that for the first time in her life so could she.

"Wow" She breathed. Melonni couldn't have agreed more. Smiling broadly at the transformation, she tugged on Arya's hand to get her moving; complaining that as much fun as it was to stare at her reflection, food was much more important at the moment. Laughing, Arya agreed with her and the two practically ran to the mess hall Melonni had shown her earlier that day. When they stopped at the doorway, Arya was suddenly reluctant to show herself in front of so many people she didn't know but when she saw Melonni tugging on her arm again she felt reassured that nothing would go wrong.

Sucking in a huge breath, Arya schooled her features into that of a court mask before taking Melonni's lead and following her over to a grab some food for themselves. When she had her tray in hand, it was only then that Arya choose to take account of her surroundings and wasn't surprised when she heard low whistles and soft murmurings whenever she passed by different tables. She wasn't bragging, no, it was far from it but, she had decided that she wouldn't let anything bother her about what she looked like; she hadn't since she was younger.

But that outlook changed when she noticed where Melonni was leading her. There, with Koss and a few other people she didn't know, sat Alec discussing something in heated terms with another Sunspear to his right. When she reached the empty seat next to the one Melonni had chosen she was sure that he would say something to her but to her surprise he didn't even look up from his conversation. Even when his partner had stopped paying attention to him and was eyeing Arya.

Barely controlling the flush that fought its way to her cheeks, Arya took slow bites of her bread and engaged in a quiet conversation with Koss and Melonni. Throughout the entire conversation she kept peeking glances at him but he had refused to look her way and she began to worry that he was upset with her over something he had heard while she was away getting ready. She knew that rumors could be horrible, especially in the Vabbian court. But she couldn't think of any that could make him ignore her like that…unless he had found out who she really was and was upset with her about not telling him…

It wasn't until Koss pretty much yelled into her ear her name that she was jolted from her thoughts. She was holding a piece of bread up to her mouth when he shouted and she stopped the motion to stare at the warrior irritatingly. "What?"

Koss glared at her for a second and repeated his question "How do you like the Hall so far?" She thought for a minute before smiling "It's great, nothing like I thought it would be. I can honestly say that I have never experienced anything like it." She realized too late that she had picked the wrong choice of words since Koss flashed her a cocky grin and went on to explain the wonders of his favorite place. She heard a groan from her left and looked over at Melonni.

"Here he goes…he won't ever shut up now that you've got him going. This place is as close as home gets for him and he isn't too modest to brag about everything here." Arya just smiled thinking that it wasn't anything different than what Koss usually did anyways and just talked to Melonni about other things. It wasn't until Koss yelled over to Alec that she snapped her head to look back of him.

Alec had finished whatever he had been eating and was enjoying the company around him when he narrowed his eyes in Koss' direction and asked him to repeat the question. Koss shook his head at his friend giving him a stern look as if to reprimand him for not paying attention and pointed at Arya.

"I said that since she liked it so much inside the Hall maybe you could take her and show her the outside, since she didn't get much of a chance to see it." For the first time that night Alec turned to look at Arya and she watched as confusion was written on his face before quickly changing to shock and recognition. "Umm…sure, why not."

Arya just huffed in response and turned to face the other direction. _The jerk hadn't even realized who I was! Am I that invisible to him? _ With barely concealed irritation she turned back to look at Alec before smiling her most sickeningly sweet smile she saved for particularly annoying court idiots "Oh don't worry about it, I think I will take a tour by myself later. No need for you to change whatever plans you had just for me."

Arya was satisfied when he saw his eyes narrow in confusion at her tone of voice, but she didn't stay long enough to hear anything he was going to say since she got up from the table and excused herself saying that she was tired from all the excitement and wanted to retire to her room.

Melonni moved to protest but stopped short when Arya shook her head at her before smiling and telling her she would see her later. Quickly, Arya gave her tray back to one of the waiting servants and headed back towards her room.

"Smooth move, Alec. You obviously pissed her off." Still staring at the retreating figure of the mage, Alec didn't turn towards Koss until she was out of the mess hall. "What? I didn't do anything!" Melonni glared at him and aimed a well deserved kick at his shins. "It's what you didn't do you, idiot."

When Alec remained looking at her in confusion she huffed and stood up. "You didn't even look at her when she came in. I saw right away that it bothered her since she kept looking for you to even acknowledge her presence. But you didn't! She wasn't even _there _to you. Geez MEN! You're all the same. Either you are ogling someone else or you are acting like we don't exist." With that she turned on her heal and followed Arya out of the hall. Koss yelled back at her

"Hey I didn't do anything here! Why am I included with him???" Since he didn't get an answer he turned back to glare at Alec, waiting for him to say something.

"WHAT?!?" Koss sputtered angrily and jabbed a finger at the direction of the door "How could you have not noticed her? I mean every other man in this place did!" Alec, in turn, glared at Koss before answering. "Well I am sorry that I had other things on my mind." "Oh yeah like what?" Alec stopped short and continued glaring at his friend. "None of your business"

He couldn't admit that the reason he had accidently ignored Arya had been because she was the person he had been thinking about, and he was loath to admit that she was occupying a fair amount of space in his mind lately. "Man I have to admit that even for a cold hearted person like you, this beats all the rest. Ignoring someone just because you were thinking…for twenty minutes!!! I don't think so; I mean how could you have not noticed her? She was sitting right there!"

Alec cringed outwardly at Koss' words and knew that he was definitely in the wrong here. Koss was right when he said that it was amazing that he hadn't noticed her; she looked stunning in her elemental clothing and he also noticed with jealousy he wasn't the first person to think so.

He had made a mistake…but how to make it up to her? Well saying sorry was probably the best thing he could do right now but he wasn't sure she would even talk to him, let alone allow him to talk to her. He sighed and put his head into his hands, thinking that if he didn't just ruin any chances with her than he was one lucky son of a bitch.

Arya paced in front of her bed trying to tire herself out so that she would be able to go back to sleep but…she was failing miserably. She groaned and sat down at the end of her bed and folded her arms across her chest. Dim-witted people should not open their mouths to say anything…she laughed to herself at that particular insult directed towards the Alec in her mind.

He hadn't said anything nor had he looked at her and she knew that was what had grated on her nerves the most. She hadn't said anything, or she wouldn't let herself admit it. She was overly worried about what Alec's reaction to what she had been wearing that when it didn't seem to faze him a bit he had unintentionally hurt her feelings. She snorted at that thought; since when had she become a little girl who hung on every praise that came her way? That wasn't who she was. Arya swiftly stood up and grabbed her cloak before stepping through her door.

The hallway was empty so she let the breath she was holding out; she hadn't wanted to explain to anyone why she was up so late and roaming the halls. She softly padded her way over to the nearest archway she thought led to the outside courtyard and sucked in her breath at the sight the greeted her instead. She had stepped into what looked like a large personal garden but, as she continued onto the path in the center, she realized that it was probably for everyone her in the Hall to enjoy since she noticed numerous benches along the way.

She stopped in front of a small fountain that sprouted water from what looked to be a water djin. The statue was carefully and beautifully crafted with every little detail that made the djin look as real as if it stood in front of her. She had only seen a water djin up close once before and that was years ago when she was a young girl. The elemental had been called to the grand court but hadn't stayed long; just long enough to say a few words with one of the princes and then to leave. But she or it had stopped and stared at the young Arya before nodding its head and walking off.

Arya had been so amazed at the occurrence she hadn't stopped talking about it until days later when her older sister had threatened to send her out into the dessert without food or clothing for an entire fortnight. She had been so worried that her sister was able to go through with her threat that her ten year old self had immediately shut up and never spoke of the meeting again. She actually hadn't thought about it until now and looking back on the memory she wondered what made the djin stop and look at her; a small girl who was just beginning to learn the basics of her craft. Puzzled she thought back to the meeting and tried to find a reason for the look that was given her.

Arya sighed and shook her head,; if there was a reason…well she wouldn't be able to figure it out and she probably never be able to ask the djin again. Her thoughts trailed elsewhere as she twirled her fingers on the surface of the water idly. Her life was so different now; she was no longer the care free child she used to be. The one who's only worries consisted of what new form of torture her older brothers could create and where to hide from them when they figured they needed a test subject.

Arya laughed slightly under her breath but she failed to notice the little tear that dribbled slowly from the corner of her eye. Instead of living carefree in the palace she was here pleading for help for her people in order to save them from a terrible fate she wasn't even sure was going to happen. How was she so sure of her visions? They could just be another reoccurring nightmare…like the ones she had when she was younger.

But this one had seemed so real…almost too real and it had scared the shit out of her when she thought of not doing anything and hurting because she could have stopped something horrible but choose not to. Closing her eyes she began to notice that the one tear she let loose a little earlier had turned into multiple ones making wet streaks down her face. She moved her hand to wipe them away but was startled when she felt someone else's hand catch a tear that fell.

Worried, and surprised she was so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn't realized someone else had joined her at the fountain.

Arya looked up into the blue eyes that seemed to haunt her dreams. "It seems that every time I see you alone you're crying." She turned her head the other way so that he couldn't see her blush…she was supposed to be mad at him. _Dammit._

She heard him sigh and then move to sit near her on the water fountain. Still trying to fight her red cheeks, she closed her eyes and put her hand back into the water near her. "You know you can tell me if something is bothering you."

At that she turned to look at him skeptically before asking him if that meant earlier too. He grimaced as if tasting something bad before replying "That was unintentional, I really didn't mean to ignore you…damn I hadn't even realized I was ignoring you."

Arya didn't say anything but she did stare at him. _What was so important that he could ignore some people and talk to others?_ As if reading her mind Alec said "I had…things on my mind. I honestly can tell you that people were yelling at me all day for not paying attention when I should have. A rather perilous habit in my occupation."

Arya only nodded her agreement and turned back to admire the ripples her hand made when she moved it in the water. "Believe me when I say if I had saw you…you wouldn't have had to worry about me paying attention to you…damn, every man in the hall paid attention to you."

She looked back at him and this time he was awarded with a little blush that told him she had realized the same thing he had. "Well…I mean…yeah I guess I sort of over reacted…I think I was madder at that than anything you didn't do." Her blush reddened and she turned her head away from his. "Don't worry about it; I just wanted to make sure I apologized to you. Had to admit though I didn't know how to. It's the reason I am out here tonight, just coincidence that you were too."

Arya nodded again and gave him a small smile; she understood. "I was thinking about my dream again…" When his eyes widened she hastily went on, "No, no I didn't have another one…not yet anyways. I was thinking about how lucky I was to find people that were willing to help me even when I myself still have doubts." Alec waited for her to elaborate but when she didn't he spoke, "Nothing is always what it seems, but I think your vision is exactly that; a vision. And I think that if it wasn't real…well, you wouldn't be sitting her by a fountain in the Sunspear Great Hall talking to its general about whether or not you should believe something. You came this far with the knowledge and the belief that you were the only one who could help your home and I think you should trust yourself."

He brushed away more tears that had escaped from underneath her eyes and smiled. Arya felt rather overwhelmed with his trust in her but she knew that he was right; she shouldn't doubt herself so much…she would never had made it this far if she hadn't. She didn't know what to say exactly so she only looked back at him and played with the hem of her cloak. "Sorry. It's just…when I think about what might happen to them…I find myself wishing that it was all just another nightmare like my mother suggested. But I am glad that I came here…I would never had met Melonni or Koss or…you." For the first time ever she watched as Alec blushed slightly at her words and she giggled.

Alec looked at her expression and chuckled softly. "Talking about where you came from…want to explain the whole thing earlier with Kormir? I have never seen her bow to anyone since I joined the order and I have to admit that I am rather intrigued at the kind of person who gets that particular honor." Surprised, she opened her mouth and then closed it; she wasn't expecting him to bring her background up so soon. She was rather unprepared but she knew that she might as well get it over with and hope that he didn't react the way the others had.

"You know that I live in Vabbi right? And that I am a noble?" Alec nodded. "Well I am a little more…important…I guess than a noble." She watched as Alec mentally puzzled out what she was hoping she didn't have to say out loud but was disappointed when he only raised an eyebrow in her direction. "Well…ummm…my family is…therulingfamilyofVabbi."

She closed her eyes waiting for the 'WHAT!?!' or the sound of his foot falls as he walked away. But, when she heard neither, she peeked out from her eyelids and studied the man in front of her. "Can you repeat that last part?"

She grimaced and nodded slowly, "I am the youngest daughter of the current ruler of Vabbi." She watched as Alec's face registered nothing and then she saw the disbelief warring with the truth of her words and then he stood up. Still staring at her, he paced; mentally arguing with himself over an issue Arya could only guess at.

She bit her lip and whispered, "Alec?" He stopped and closed his eyes and nodded before looking back at her. "I can't believe I didn't figure this out before. You gave me every clue imaginable…the court mask you're so fond of, the youngest daughter in an important family, why you weren't allowed out of the house, the suitors, the visions, the fact that you're an elementalist in a family who was shocked to see that trait, and the fact that Kormir bowed. It all makes sense; I don't see how I couldn't have figured it out before."

Throughout his recounting, Arya had winced each time he said a clue and was now trying to look as small as possible on her perch. Without sensing the obvious discomfort his companion was in, Alec slowly knelt in front of her and bowed his head. "I am sorry for the disrespect I have given you in the past. If I had known…"

Horrified, Arya jumped up and slapped him before he could continue with whatever he was going to say. "Stop!" Visibly distressed she yelled at him "You're not supposed to do that; not you! I never wanted to be a royal; never wanted the title and the money and the looks people gave me because of who my parents are. I never wanted my friends to kneel before me, never wanted to give other people orders, and I never wanted the men my parents shoved at me. Please don't kneel."

She was crying again but she angrily pushed them aside. She was whispering, more to herself than to Alec but he heard anyways. "Not you; please not you too." He stood up and moved to put a comforting hand on her arm but stopped mid motion when she winced as if the thought of him coming anywhere near her, was painful. When she turned her eyes to his he flinched inwardly when he realized his mistake but he knew it was too late. She was looking at him with the saddest green eyes he had ever seen on a woman, and he was shocked at how hurt she actually was. Arya continued to stare at him before wrapping her cloak tighter around her and walking quickly towards the entrance to the hallway. She only turned once to look back at him but she didn't say or do anything. She left him there; staring at her retreating figure, as she returned to her room. _I knew it._

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It was morning when Arya heard Melonni yell behind her door and she hadn't gotten nearly as much sleep she should have. But she couldn't be blamed for that; the dimwitted warrior was at fault here and she was determined to make sure he understood it. She scowled at her blankets and threw them over to the other side. Stepping off her bed and onto the floor she walked over to the large mirror that stood in the corner and winced in sympathy for her appearance. Her eyes were red and bloodshot; she had cried most of the night before she fell into a fitful sleep. Running a hand through her hair she gasped as her fingers met several knots that tugged at her scalp.

Shrugging, she straightened her robes and gave up. Walking over to open the door she was assaulted with a bouncing Melonni as she turned the handle. As soon as Melonni took in the sight of her friend though she exclaimed and dragged Arya's hand over to the seat near her mirror. "What ever happened to you?" Not wanting to talk about last night, Arya just shook her head and willed Melonni to drop the subject.

As if taking her cue, Melonni only pursed her lips and set to seeing if she could get her friend's hair presentable. "Kormir asked me to get you; she wants to discuss why you came here." Eyes still slightly glazed from lack of sleep, Arya could only mumble and nod to show that she was listening to her. When she was ready, according to Melonni's inspection, they both set out for Kormir's office, Mellonni talking about different gossip she had heard this morning.

Secretly glad that her and Alec's conversation last night hadn't made its way into that group of intel, Arya took a deep breath putting on her court mask as she stepped through the doorway. When she noticed that it wasn't going to be just her and Kormir, she schooled herself to not even look in Alec's direction. She smiled in greeting to both Kormir and Koss while she took a seat on the chair that was offered and shrugged at Melonni's curious glance. "Okay, now that we are all here I think we should start. Alec has told me everything that he has found out about these visions that Arya has been having and I think she had every reason to be worried. This is serious."

Kormir's eyes locked with Koss's for a second before looking back at Arya. "Is there anything that you want to add to what Alec has told us?" She thought for a moment and sneaked a glance over at Alec but when she noticed that he was staring in the opposite direction acting as if this wasn't important at all she scowled and turned back to Kormir. "I assume he has told you everything that I have told him but…there is another…problem that arose when I left."

Kormir's eyes narrowed considerably in the general's direction and motioned for Arya to continue. "Well you see, when I left it wasn't in the best graces. My father was convinced that everything was just a ploy to get attention as you already know. But what I didn't mention was that he told me…quite forcibly, that if I left to pursue this particular _fancy_ of my mine that…" Arya grimaced not wanting to continue because it would show that her father was just like every stereotype Vabbi royal; cold, arrogant, money hungry people who didn't even care about their own children. And she knew that even though he did that he really wasn't that kind of person.

"You wouldn't be allowed back into the Grand palace." Her head shot up to stare at Kormir who only chuckled and told her that she had known her father fairly well when he was younger. She hadn't seen that Alec's head had also shot up at the news and stared at the elementalist. "Yes…that's what he said." Giving a frustrated hiss Koss gestured towards Arya, "And how were you planning on bringing this 'help' back with you? By the sounds of it you might need an army."

She shifted again in her seat, "I haven't honestly figured that part out. I was just thinking that I would wait on the borders…gaining Kournan permission of course, until I heard of news that something was going on. I do have people still at court that believed me…like Silas for example." Kormir looked intrigued at the mention of Silas but didn't point it out figuring that Arya wouldn't say anything about him unless she absolutely had to. "That won't work though; I highly doubt any Kournan would allow an army of any size to rest within their borders unless it's their own. I have a better idea though."

Arya sat up straighter and looked at Kormir expectantly. "I don't think that we need an army to deal with this threat…not immediately anyways. With what I gather about these Forgotten is that they-that's who it is by the way-are succeeding only through surprise since I'm not sure they could sack the capital otherwise and now that Arya has notified people…even if they don't believe it…they will be wary just the same. What I do think we need is a special group of people who will be able to bear the brunt of the attack so that the vabbian militia can organize."

Arya slumped backwards since she knew what Kormir was going to say, and even though she didn't particularly mind traveling again, she wasn't so thrilled with it being with a certain someone. "I think we need the people standing in this room and a few collected on the way to make up that perfect mix." Arya shut her eyes, "You mean us…" Kormir laughed loudly at Arya before nodding her head and waving her hand to encompass her friends that were gathered in her office. "I mean all of you…though I do think you will need Kish-…" "No."

Arya glanced at Alec, surprised that he had spoken up since throughout the entire conversation he hadn't said a word. She watched as Kormir stood up from her desk and moved to stand in front on Alec and even though she didn't match his height one bit she still managed to look so intimidating that even Alec was forced to look somewhat meek at his outburst. "Kisha will help you regardless of what her _brother_ thinks. This will be her decision and it will have nothing to do with what you want; this is Arya's mission and I think that she has the right to be able to include whomever she thinks she will need. And I know that she will need a good arrow and your little sister is the perfect person, besides she is on the way."

Arya could feel the tension building behind the eyes Alec stared at Kormir with and she cringed to think that she was the cause of it…not that the spear marshal hadn't helped. It was a few minutes later before Kormir broke the gaze to turn back to Arya before winking as if she shared a joke and continued with what she was speaking about before Alec had interrupted.

"And I'm sure…Silas…would be more then helpful. Especially…if you're involved, princess. I have no doubt that you have a way to contact him if you need to. Oh and ask him to bring that lovely young monk who hung around you two when you were younger. I think she will work nicely." Trying to appear as closed faced as she could, she nodded as if what Kormir suggested was no problem at all. When, on the inside, Arya was screaming at the older woman; how did Kormir know who Trish was? And how was she so certain she had been keeping in touch with Silas along her journey? She was sure that there was much more she had to learn about the woman in front of her but she knew that it would have to wait until there wasn't a threat to her country.

"Well since that's settled I think you four should be leaving to go pack…and pack lightly since you will be traveling through lands that haven't felt the foot of a Sunspear in ages." Kormir smiled to herself as if sharing a private joke and settled herself back into her chair. She didn't even wait for them to leave before picking up the newest of letters on her desk and reading it. Arya hauled herself to her feet and didn't wait for the other three to compose themselves. She rushed out of the office and ran back to the bedroom she had been given.

She needed as much privacy she could get so she ordered a servant to get a jug of water and a large bowl before dismissing the others. Rifling through her pack; she had packed last night since she decided that she wasn't going to stay long regardless of what Kormir had to say this morning, she took out a small black stone. She admired the smooth surface and traced the line of pure silver that ran through the middle of the rock.

Arya sat down on the edge of her bed trying not to be impatient but failing miserably as she waited for the servant to bring her what she had asked. She had drifted off into a waking dream when the clatter of a bowl falling on the ground startled her. The servant was trying to close the door without making a racket but had dropped the bowl in the process. She smiled gratefully at the young girl and bent down to pick up the object and taking the glass full of water with her other hand.

Dismissing the girl, she placed the bowl on the floor in front of her bed and locked the door. She was determined that she wasn't disturbed when she worked this particular spell. Arya sighed before pouring the water into the empty bowl and placed the black stone in the middle. She whispered a few words and waited for the answering whisper.

She heard a slight noise and she focused on the image on the surface of the water that was beginning to become clearer by the second. "There you are, I was beginning to worry since I hadn't heard from you in so long, Ari."

Arya smiled at the mention of her nickname. In front of her a man's face stood blinking at her. "Good to see you too, Silas! But I'm not here to exchange greetings, which will have to wait for when we see each other. I know I told you to stay where you were but I need you…"

She watched as wariness changed to concern in the black eyes of her friend; eyes she missed so much. "With what Ari?" "With what I was telling you about before I left. I found some people who can help me but in order to get any where I need you and Trish with me." Confusion was written on Silas' face as he tried to figure out what she meant.

"Is something wrong? I can be there in a few minutes if you need me to be…you know that." Arya nodded "I know that, but I need you to bring Trish with you. Don't ask me to explain now…I want to wait until we are face to face just in case someone is listening in on either side. Just…trust me Silas. I know what I'm doing."

She watched as Silas thought for a few seconds before giving her a glance that said she didn't even have to ask. "Alright we will be there tomorrow." "Wait, you don't even know where here is…or do you?" She paused, thinking but stopped and glared at her friend's expression.

"Of course I know where you are Ari, I always do and I always will." She smiled a rather watery smile at him and nodded. "Okay well I will see you tomorrow, I'm not sure how far we will be from the Hall but I'm assuming we will be either in Kamadon or at the docks. Either place is fine since it should be busy as hell so you two won't be noticed, unless someone is looking…and I doubt that at the moment. Give me a slight mental tug to tell me you're here."

Silas grinned cheekily at her, "I will be waiting!" Arya laughed and cut off the connection. She picked the stone out of the water and quickly placed it in a pocket near her heart before tossing the water out the window. She placed the empty bowl and cup on her bed and picked up her bag. She looked back around her room but decided that even though she would miss her bath…she was extremely happy to be on her way home.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Kamadon was definitely named the jewel of Istan for a reason, but Arya still thought that the Sunspear Great Hall stood in a whole other light compared to the buildings here. Besides the people she had met so far in the city didn't seem like people she wanted around all the time. It was the next day and a couple of hours ago her group arrived in the capital in search of good food on their way to the docks. But so far all they found was overly priced vendors selling food that they could have made themselves and it would probably taste better too.

When the others had found a vendor that sold smoked sausage and rolls Arya had taken one look at the meat and decided that she would eat the rest of the dried venison that was left in her pack. Koss had shrugged at her indifferently and ordered enough food for the other two while she was forced to find a relatively clean and safe spot to search through her bag in look for something edible. At this moment Arya was sitting on the side of the small bridge that connected the main part of Kamadon to the Consul Docks watching Koss, Alec and Melonni eagerly consume their sausages and a mashed up form of bread that Arya couldn't even imagine eating.

Arya looked up at Alec and thought that even though he rarely said anything to her anymore, he had stopped referring to her as princess. She hadn't figured out why that was and in case he reverted back she refused to ask him anything about it. She was content to be ignored; even if that meant losing someone she had considered a good friend…maybe even someone who could have become more than a friend. Arya grimaced and decided that she didn't want to think about the man in front of her…especially when it concerned her feelings.

When he had called her princess and asked for forgiveness for mistaking her for a friend in that garden she felt like her heart was tearing and every time he even mentioned royalty it would hurt even more. At first she hadn't thought that it would affect her like it did but later that night she realized that she had developed 'more than friends' feelings for the man. She huffed at herself in annoyance; she didn't need new complications, especially now that she was finally on her way to complete her mission.

If she ever talked to him again, she might say something about it to him but right now the chance of doing that was slim. _Ari_. Arya's head shot up at the sound of her nickname ringing in her head and looked around where she sat. The other three were still oblivious to anything going on around them so she assumed that they hadn't heard it; not that they would have anyways, the message was for her alone.

She pulled her feet out and jumped off from the railing and watched as her companions froze staring quizzically at her. Arya smiled at them and told them it was nothing to worry about. She then turned around and searched for the source of the nickname. There! Not too far away from her stood a rather harried looking young monk and a tall handsome man wearing all black. She gave a loud shout and took off in their direction, ignoring the exclamations of her friends behind her.

She dodged the people standing in her path nimbly before launching herself into the man's waiting arms. "Silas! I can't believe it's really you!" Laughing and crying at the same time, Arya felt the man's arms tighten around her as he picked her up and spun her around avoiding the people walking past them. "It's me Ari; you can be assured of that."

She laughed again and hung on to Slias's neck as he moved her behind him so that he was now carrying her on his back. "It's been soooo long!" She felt him laugh through his chest rather than heard it, "Only a couple of months or so, Ari. Besides you were the one who told me not to come with you, so you have no one to blame but yourself." She laughed again and turned her head to smile gleefully at the monk still standing staring at Silas and Arya, "Trish!"

The women named Trish smiled warmly up at the mage and patted her shoulder. "It's really been too long Ari…but I'm glad you asked for me to come. But tell him to never take me on that route again or I will never help him if he ever gets hurt." Trish glared at the taller man until he grimaced in sympathy for her and turned his head to look backwards at Arya, "Shadow-route." Arya glanced knowingly at Trish and shrugged her shoulders before smiling broadly again at the two of them.

"Arya what is going on?" Arya wiped her smile completely off her face in an instant, which didn't go unnoticed by Silas and Trish, and turned to look at Alec. Koss, Alec and Melonni were standing in front of them looking at her as if she had grown at least three heads and then some. Koss just looked amused at whatever was said between Alec and him and Melonni was sending questioning looks at Arya; silently asking her to explain who these people were and the obvious change in her demeanor. Alec…well Alec was annoyed to say the least.

He was surprised when Arya had suddenly ran off but he would get over that; what annoyed him the most was that she was currently on the back of a man he didn't know but he wasn't going to say anything…though he wanted to. Arya cleared her throat and tried to look as normal as possible while being carried piggy back by one of her closet friends. "Umm well I guess I will have to introduce you guys…sorry I forgot" Arya frowned. Silas smirked before dropping her gently and pulling her in front of him. "I'm Silas, Arya's guardian and this is…"

The women named Trish stepped forward and bowed slightly as a sign of good will to the others present, "Trisha Rowan; devout monk, proud noble Vabbian, and friend of Arya." She straightened and gave each new acquaintance a once over, her gaze lingering slightly longer when she looked at Alec. Arya, slightly miffed at Trisha's look, pulled Melonni forward and introduced her to Trisha who immediately started talking to her as if they had known each other for years and not one minute.

She smiled at the two and motioned to the other men, "Silas, Trish, this is Koss and the other one is Alec Shardae, the Sunspear general." Silas raised an eyebrow at the mention of Alec's rank but other than that it seemed as if the introduction hadn't fazed him a bit. Both men eyed the newcomers warily, as if looking for a reason to leave their company and claiming that it wasn't safe for Arya to be around them. But, to the chagrin of both warriors, they noticed that their friend seemed to glow now that she was in the presence of these two.

"They are the two that Kormir mentioned in the meeting room the other day. So they will now be joining us on our trip!" Arya practically bounced back to Silas's side and grabbed his arm pulling him towards the docks. Alec, without batting an eyelash, turned to follow the two in order to keep a close eye on them while pulling Koss along with him. The other two women, completely forgotten in the excitement, both shook their heads and followed the others.

Arya smiled; still vibrant from when she first introduced her long time friends to her new ones, and glanced up at the large ship that was taking them to the mainland. The hull was carved beautifully with different runes and letters that pretty much oozed powerful magic.

The grain of the wood was what Arya admired most about the vessel; it was a warm chestnut color that gave off the feeling of something exotic yet comforting. She had never seen something like this and she was awed by the presence of the ship itself, still slightly frightened that if she stepped onto the ship it would vanish as if an illusion from her dreams. She glanced over at the others not far from where she stood and sighed happily. Melonni and Trish had taken to each other better than Arya had hoped and even Koss seemed to warm up to the slight monk. The only two that had a problem with each other was Alec and Silas; who for some unfathomable reason both had take an immediate dislike for each other.

Well…Silas she could somewhat understand since he always understood her the best and probably felt Arya's discomfort around Alec but it didn't explain why Alec was so adamant on not getting along with the other man. At the moment both were arguing between the two of them while the captain of the ship stood in front of them looking thoroughly confused and irritated at the same time. She sighed again and walked over to the three.

"Captain, I understand you have agreed to give us passage?" When she spoke all three of them turned towards her and regarded her with a wary look; as if daring her to say something that she wasn't supposed to. "Yes" Arya nodded, "Well on behalf of the Vabbian royal family I greatly appreciate what you have done for us…me. I do know that to brave the water right now is rather dangerous since the corsair navy began patrolling it but know that you will get everything and more that you are asking in exchange of our passage. May I ask when we are to depart?"

She watched, amused, as the captain's face turned from annoyance, to surprise, to disbelief, and then back to annoyance. "That's exactly what I have been tryin' to tell these two here; I can't leave just yet. There be certain things that must go through before I leave port, but these two seem right set on leavin this instant. I will'nt risk my ship jus because I am too hasty." Arya briefly glared at the two men standing next to her and was glad when both looked somewhat sheepish before turning back to look at the captain. She quietly judged the man trying to find something about him that she could use to give her a lee-way in the argument but decided that no matter what she wouldn't be able to change the mind of such a stubborn man.

"How long will that take sir?" The man calculated the time in his head before glancing at some of his men behind him. She watched as a silent communication took place between them and then the captain nodded and turned back to her. "About three hours…nightfall that is. We can set out when the sun first hides under the mountains." Arya gritted her teeth at the delay but forced a cheerful smile on her face instead. "Well then I can't see any way around it so if it's alright with you, my companions and I will be waiting aboard the ship getting our possessions settled."

She watched as wariness crossed the captain's face but he focused on her and nodded to himself as if thinking that he could trust them as long as she was there to watch over them. "Alright I will be back in three hours and we will depart immediately after. Milady, relax until then." Arya smiled again and turned back to look at Alec and Silas. "Well?" Silas glared at her, "Well what?" She sighed and looked at Alec. His only response was to scowl and walk away towards Koss and their bags. She watched him go and glanced at Silas, "What's the matter between you two?"

The blonde man shrugged and said as if it was obvious "He gets on my nerves…that's all. Besides I could ask the same of you." She narrowed her eyes but refrained from comment as she followed Alec to grab her bags and walk up the wooden board that served as a bridge to the deck of the ship.

~.~.~

_It was night time; when the sky had an almost purple hue to it and everyone was peacefully settled inside their house or tucked safely into a street corner. Arya couldn't tell exactly what it was…just that the more she looked at each house and empty stall the more uneasy she became; as if something was telling her to run back the way she came and never look back. Contrary to the gut feeling, she stepped cautiously through the narrow main street, trying to stay as quiet as possible in order to discover the reason for her unease. _

_Then as if right on cue, a ball of what looked to be lightening traveled off from a point somewhere farther ahead and hit the middle of a tent catching the material on fire. Arya jumped, startled, and hurried into the inside of the house yelling for the occupants to escape before the fire took hold of the main building. But the only sign of life in the entire house was a small mouse scurrying along the side of the wall as if heeding her warning. She hesitated beside a doorway knowing that she shouldn't open it…knowing that if she did she was sure she wasn't going to like what she saw…but she was worried nonetheless and stepped through the doorway. _

_She stifled a scream when her eyes adjusted to the darkness that seemed to seep from the corners of the room. Off to the far right of the room where the bodies of two young children, each with an arrow through the sides of their neck. Arya slowly backed away brushing off the tears that stained her cheeks but just before her foot fell against the outline of the doorway her world spun throwing her onto the now hard earth floor. _

_Groggily, she pulled herself up onto her feet and surveyed her surroundings but closed her eyes again in shock. Scattered around both sides of the street she had stood in front of earlier were the bodies of local townspeople, but what had made her mind reel from the sight was that mixed in with those bodies were the ones of her friends; her companions. She opened her eyes only to cry out in pain as they fell onto the one person's face she had hoped wasn't within the piles; Alec's. Feeling as if everything in her world had disappeared in a single moment, Arya sagged with the weight of holding her body upright and her legs buckled underneath her. _

_She continued to stare at the distorted figure of the man until she felt a shadow cover her sight and she looked up into blood red eyes that were as sad as hers. "Find it, warm blood…find the bracelet…find the thing most wanted before the thing most cherished is gone."_

_An image of a gold bracelet littered with small emeralds and curving runes filled her eyesight and she squinted at the picture trying to recognize where she had seen it before. But then the image disappeared and the eyes she had looked up into had vanished leaving only the sight of Alec's torn and bleeding body filling her mind until she couldn't take it and more and she screa…_ "No!" Arya bolted straight up from her curled position in her blankets and hugged her arms around herself as she cried.

It was that vision again…but this time it had been different…this time her friends were included when they never had been before. She closed her eyes shut, ignoring the tears that leaked out the corners and groped around in the darkness for her cloak. She found the fabric where she had left it right before she had fallen asleep and pulled the cloth over her hunched shoulders, and then stood up making sure she made the least amount of noise possible.

She didn't want to worry her friends over something like this; especially when she didn't quite understand it herself. Gliding effortlessly past the flailed limbs of her companions, she stepped out of the cabin she shared with Melonni and Trisha before breathing in the fresh sea air when she reached the deck. Arya made her way over to the side rail ignoring the looks that the deckhands gave her when they noticed that she was alone. She pulled her cloak closer to herself feeling the breeze bite through her thin camisole and cloth pants.

The only thing that managed to keep most of the chill out was the cloak itself and her knee high leather boots she had acquired from a local craftsman in Kamadon; as much as she liked her new yellow and black elementalist robes they were highly improbable when traveling on the sea and the warmer clothing she had bought helped a lot with the looks the men had started giving her. Not that the looks Silas had given them in return stopped the whispers and leering glances she still received when he wasn't by her side. It had been two nights since they had set out from Kamadon and besides the slight sea sickness Koss seemed prone to at times, the companions had taken to the sea fairly well.

She hadn't worried much over anything and took the free time she had discussing what she had missed whilst she had been gone from the court with Trish and other…more private…things with Silas. She had told him about her trip to Istan and everything she had encountered on the way. She had even told him some of her thoughts and growing feelings on the Sunspear general, but when he had pushed her to act on those feelings she had glared and yelled at him until he threw up his hands in mock defeat and turned around to go and start up a conversation with a crew member, giving her time to cool off.

Thinking back on her reaction, Arya sighed and leaned further out from the rail sniffing slightly as tears pricked the edges of her eyes. The thought of Alec led her straight back to her vision and she wasn't all that sure she was happy about that. She frowned in confusion; there was something different about her dream this time and it wasn't entirely the addition of her friends. Someone or something had spoken to her this time…had said something about a bracelet. She furrowed her eyebrows in frustration but couldn't figure out exactly what that meant.

She was obviously told to find a bracelet before those that she cared about…and probably loved…died but it had also told her that it was something 'most wanted'. 'Most wanted' to whom? Arya inspected her nails taping them on the corner of her mouth. She thought back to her history lessons she had been required to attend as a child and tried to remember anything about a bracelet that had been important.

There had been plenty…but none that seemed to trigger any response or spark of recognition of the one she had seen. She thought back over what Kormir had said awhile back about dealing with Forgotten and she tried to edit her mental search to include bracelets that dealt or included the race. She came up with a possible of four different bracelets each with their own stories but none that seemed to fit exactly what she was looking for. Sighing once more she pulled her head into her hands and listened to the lapping of the water's waves against the side of the boot.

She stood there like that long enough for the sun's rays to be peeking out from where they were hiding before she finally gave up her mental search and looked back over to where her cabin and the other cabins were housed thinking that maybe Silas would remember something she might have forgotten. As if he had heard her thought Silas's head popped out from the door way and looked around until he spotted her near the edge of the ship.

She watched him walk confidently towards her and she admired how he had grown accustomed to the sea as if he was born and raised on it. She shook her head and gestured to the empty space on her right, before looking back over to the sunrise in progress. "Something tells me that you need to talk, _mei_ _mei_."

It wasn't a question but it wasn't a statement either; he was silently offering his support but also telling her that she didn't need to tell him if it bothered her. Arya smiled slightly at his term of endearment (he had called her little sister in his native tongue) and placed a shaky hand near his on the railing. "I had another dream last night…well dream isn't the word for it…more like vision. But anyways it was different this time…it was so horrible Jax…so, so, so horrible." She caught herself from choking up as she said the last part and winced when she realized she had called him by his given name.

When she was alone with him she would call him it whenever she felt like it but she always seemed guilty when she said it when there was a chance of someone else over hearing; he didn't like his name said much and when he did it was only she that he allowed. He gave her a smile that told her that it was fine; that no one had heard and that she didn't need to worry and then frowned slightly when he realized how distressed she really was. "What is it?" Arya closed her eyes and forced herself not the bring up the images of her friends killed or dying in the ruined city but she was having trouble not conjuring the face that would probably haunt her nightmares from now on; Alec.

"Everyone…all of them gone. Even you, Silas…even _him._ What am I going to do? This wasn't supposed to happen, I only went so far away from home so that I could find a way to stop it, but now it's just gotten worse." She felt his hand grab hers and squeeze until she was under control of her voice. "I just don't want that to happen, Silas…" She opened her eyes and looked up at her friend. Silas smiled encouragingly and rubbed soothing circles. "It's not going to happen, not while everyone here is trying their hardest to prevent it. Now, that wasn't all that your vision was…"

Arya nodded and looked back out towards the vast expanse of the Elonian Sea, "There is a bracelet now…one that I haven't never seen nor heard of except in my dream." She glanced up at Silas before continuing, "It's a gold, emerald encrusted band that has runes etched into the metal that I haven't even seen before. Whatever it was I'm pretty sure they were powerful but I don't remember any of them in my studies." She paused and let her finger trace the grain of the wood underneath her hand. "It's definitely powerful, Silas"

He grunted half heartedly as he racked his brain to come up with any ideas about the object Arya described. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back down to the princess and watched as she slowly traced out runes unconsciously on the railing of the deck. "Hey, Ari can you draw the runes? It might help if we have something to go off from…maybe between the two of us and the help of the others we can figure out what they mean."

Arya jumped in surprise when she realized that she hadn't even thought about drawing the runes out and ran back to her cabin door in order to grab some ink and parchment she had brought along with her in her pack. Cautiously opening the door, she tiptoed around her sleeping friends again and rummaged around in her pack until she found what she was looking for.

She stepped out again and ran up to the deck where she saw Silas had set a small barrel near an open space and was waiting next to it patiently. Arya dropped down on her knees in front of the barrel and quickly began the task of drawing out the runes that seemed permanently etched in her mind, making sure she was as precise and neat as possible. She hadn't realized so much time had passed as she worked on the illustration until she was finished and looked up to see not only Silas standing there watching her but Alec and Melonni also.

She grinned shakily at the two of them but when her eyes fell on Alec she was forced to close them and look away quickly when the visage she had seen in her dream stole across her iris.

Alec seemed to notice her reaction to him and shifted wearily on his feet; he thought that their problem between the two of them was just that: between them. But he watched as Silas looked at Arya worryingly when he saw her response and knew that what had happened wasn't just between them anymore; she had told him and he was obviously taking her side of the matter. Not that he blamed him much…Alec had been an idiot at the time but he wasn't about to admit that, especially to the other man.

Arya had gotten to her feet and was frowning down at the piece of parchment that she had been scribbling on when he had came up from his shared cabin. He glanced questioningly down at the paper and was surprised when he recognized runes instead of what he had originally thought were just her scribbling. He pointed to the paper; "What are those?" Arya smoothed her white shirt down her stomach and answered his question, "Runes. Though…I'm not sure which." "What do you mean not sure? Didn't you just sketch them out?" She grimaced and waved her hand towards her work, "Yes I did, but that doesn't mean I know what they are…and if you might know then I would hope you dish out the information soon so that we can all benefit from the knowledge."

Alec scowled at her words as he realized she probably wasn't in the mood for a twenty questions session so he bent down to study the runes looking for any he recognized, noticing that Melonni did the same. As he carefully studied each curve and pattern, he realized that though he hadn't seen these particular runes, he had seen the language when he was younger.

He stood back up, still staring at the paper, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. It had been a long time ago and he wasn't exactly sure that it was the same thing but he was fairly certain that the twists and loops that seemed unique to this particular script were familiar. As he turned to Melonni he saw that she too noticed the similarity but not the source.

"I know this language."

Four words; that was all it took to capture Arya's permanent attention along with the attention of her shadow. _I wonder where these runes came from…judging from her expression it wasn't exactly a fairy tale. _"I don't know what that means though, but the language itself is a very old version of the common tongue…one that is as pure as any language on Elona. Not many know this language…how do you?"

He watched as her face blanched a pale white, almost as pale as her shirt, and she reached out for Silas's hand. He scowled again when he saw the man stretch out, capture her hand and give it a squeeze. "It's umm…well…it's complicated. But I'm surprised I never recognized it, with all the runes that I've studied." She furrowed her brow and stared intensely at the parchment in front of her. Alec frowned and turned to Melonni and stepped forward in surprise when he saw that she looked just as pale as Arya had a few seconds ago. "Melonni?"

The derv tore her eyes away from the paper and locked onto the warrior's. "Alec…this script…it's not good, Alec, not good at all." Arya, startled, turned to the other women and knelt next to her laying a hand on her shoulder. "What is it Mel? You know what this says don't you?" Melonni shook her head eyes now fixed on the hand resting on her shoulder. "Then what's wrong then?" The derv glanced back at the runes and motioned towards the water and the land not too far away.

"Alec was right, it's an ancient form of common but what he doesn't know is that it's the tongue of the gods. I only know bits and pieces of what it says but based off from that alone I have a feeling that whoever would know what this means doesn't want it for good." Arya visibly shivered and Alec ached to put a comforting arm around her shoulders but instead clutched them around the handle of his blade. She turned her head to stare at Silas and a knowing look passed between the two.

"I'm not sure that's the case though…I mean I'm not sure the bracelet is used for only evil if what he said about it is correct. It's just that he seemed so anxious to have it found that maybe…" She pauses in her confusing speech and he took the opportunity to ask what the hell was going on. She looked at him as if just now seeing that he was really there and pursed her lips. "I had another vision…different this time but…"

She closed her eyes briefly in pain and he tried to imagine what she saw. It must have been horrible since she seemed to not want to talk about it at all. "Anyways, at the end I saw a bracelet and those runes were etched into the surface along with small emeralds… and he said something about finding what is sought before losing something that is cherished…something about it being wanted."

Alec watched as a small tear leaked from the corner of her eyes and wondered again what she had seen in that vision. Suddenly a thought struck him as he let her words sink into his head. "Sought? You don't think that whoever is going to raid your city is looking for this bracelet?" Arya stared at him in surprise before nodding her head, thoughts rapidly traveling through her mind as she thought of the possibilities.

"If they are going to destroy my home in search of it…then that means that they haven't found it yet…and maybe…if we get there before they do…maybe we can find it before anything happens." She smiled in delight at the mention of finding a way to avoid the massacre she was so fearful of and turned her glowing eyes on him for a moment.

"That's it! If we find it and get word to them that we have the bracelet and are willing to give it to them then they will go back to where ever they came from and leave us alone!" Arya turned and skipped back to the railing before leaning over it, smiling at whatever she was thinking about. Melonni had recovered from whatever shock the runes had put her in and was silently studying the picture as if to try and decipher the meaning of them. "I'm not sure that's a good idea. Whatever this bracelet is… whoever took it from these creatures must have had a reason to…they wouldn't be searching for it this hard otherwise. If we find this thing then do we really trust them to just walk away with it peacefully?"

Alec scratched his hand in irritation when he realized Melonni had a valid point; if the Forgotten wanted this item badly enough to go to such extremes…what would stop them from doing further horrible things if they had the power this object obviously possessed. As if reading his thoughts, Silas stared intently at the handsome warrior before looking back down at the runes. "By the sound of it though the bracelet is rightfully theirs, there could be a chance that they would leave after they got what they came for…but I'm afraid to think that it would be more likely that they attack instead, out of spite. Either way I have a feeling that we will have to fight them regardless."

Arya, her good mood squashed after hearing the two theories, walked somberly up to the runes and picked up the parchment bringing it to her face examining it with a thoughtful expression. "Hmm I guess you guys are right…but I can't help but feel like we are missing something vital to this. Besides I can't shake the sensation like I've seen the bracelet before…" She continued to stare at the flowing writing until her eyes popped on her face as a thought occurred to her.

"That's it! This wasn't the first dream I have had of this bracelet. If I remember right the first time I saw it was back when I was twelve…I had thought that it was so pretty and had tried to duplicate in real life but I believe that whenever I tried it, it wasn't the same so I had given up. But I saw it again when I was with my grandmother during her lessons…" She turned her astonished eyes to Silas and he nodded in understanding. "I was seeing visions…I just never knew it. But why would I dream about a bracelet I never saw before?" She shook her head and glanced at the others, but Alec noticed that her gaze didn't rest on him for any longer than it had to.

She looked back to the paper thoughtfully and grimaced for a reason unknown to Alec. "There is something more to this…I'm sure of it. I don't think I would have seen…what I saw if there wasn't." He noticed that she still refused to say what it was that she saw in her dream but he didn't comment on it; saving it for when he would confront her later. She was hiding something from him; he could tell by the way she kept avoiding him.

Their problems with each other right now didn't make a difference when it came to their mission and he had seen to it that she understood that; she had avoided anything personal with him but she had made sure that if she had to she could put aside their difficulties and assume the role of the leader. But something was different this time; and he had no idea what it was.

~.~.~

After the meeting that morning on the deck Arya had decided to seclude herself from the rest of her friends; including Silas. She wanted time to think about what was going on and what she could do about it. They all knew she had been right when she had said earlier about finding the bracelet regardless of the consequences. They needed at least some sort of a bargaining chip against the Forgotten, but she still couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. So she had decided that she needed time to think, away from everyone who constantly asked her questions. Arya thought back to the many looks Alec had given her over the course of their discussion and wondered at how much he had guessed.

Definitely enough to make him suspicious; one of the reasons she was here and not out there on the deck. Sighing, she looked around at the things scattered about the room thinking that even though they were the women, their room had to be the messiest on the ship. She went over to the nearest pile of clothing and began to sort through what was hers and what were the others. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she never heard the opening and closing of her door until she saw the shadow darkening a space near her. "I'm kind of busy right now and I don't want to be bothered so can you please leave?" No" Arya, shocked, looked up at whoever was standing in the room and scooted further away when she noticed that it was Alec. "That wasn't a request." Alec scowled, "I don't care."

She picked up another piece of clothing that by the looks of it belonged to Trisha and balled it up in her fists, getting ready to throw it at the man if he came any closer to her. "Tell me what you want and then leave; I rather like my peace and quiet." She watched warily as he knelt near where she was curled up and quietly looked at her as if he expected her to read his mind. "Well?"

His scowl stretched into a worried smile and he put his hand near hers on the floor. "What happened this morning? What really happened?" Her eyes widened for a second and then she matched his earlier scowl deciding to act as if his words didn't surprise her at all. "Other than the dream and the runes? Nothing." He dropped his smile but he continued to stare at her in a way that told her that he didn't believe one word of what she said. "Then why are you locking yourself in here?" She narrowed her eyes for effect, "None of your business."

He narrowed his own eyes further and he stood up to walk over to the door before turning back to her with his arms crossed. "I'm not leaving until you tell me." Fighting to control her anger at the man in front of her, she dropped the clothing and stood up to face him, "I. Have. Already. Told. You. That. There. Is. Nothing. Wrong." "And I have told you that I'm not leaving until you tell me the whole truth." Arya, now seething in frustration, griped her fists by her side trying to think of a way to get him to leave her alone quickly before she actually told him what was really going on. She couldn't lie very well and she had never been able to lie to him over the couple of months that she had known him.

Yes, she never told him the truth about her parents and her title but in her defense he was never interested enough to ask. "Please leave; there isn't anything you need to be concerned with." She gazed hopefully at him but was disappointed when his face didn't even change. "No." Arya was now close to tears as she tried not to look at the man who was the object of her dreams; good and bad ones. "Leave. I'm not asking."

He shrugged casually, "And I'm not listening." Clenching her fists again she wasn't surprised when she felt a nail puncture the soft flesh, "You don't understand and you never will so I don't understand why you care." His gaze pierced hers telling her he still wasn't buying it, "Understand what?" She finally let the tears roll down her face as she glared at him, "Everything!"

He looked rather taken aback by her outburst but he controlled himself again, "And what's everyth-." "YOU! Everything, and everyone…this wasn't supposed to happen. Everything is supposed to work out but it's not." He looked rather startled at the jumble of words escaping her mouth and she had the satisfaction of watching him look thoroughly confused. She slumped down into the makeshift bed on the floor and let her tears finally flow down her face, scrunching up her eyes to hide the pain she knew he would find there. "I don't understand."

She didn't say anything; just continued to cry. She heard him sigh in frustration and then she felt his arms tighten around her and she tensed, surprised at his actions. But when he didn't make a move to leave, she relaxed and griped an arm, bending her neck to lean against it. "It's all wrong, Alec."

"What is all wrong?" She shook her head against his arm, "This mission. I left thinking that once I found someone who could help me then everything would be fine. But it's still happening, the dreams, the death; I can't seem to find a way to avoid it." She felt rather then heard his grumble of disagreement; "Not everything can be solved so easily. Trust me we are helping though."

She griped his arm tighter and willed herself to not break down and cry again. "No we aren't, nothing is better; it is all worse. Everyone is…_will_ be dead…don't you understand? How can you help when you are all dead?" She felt him tense up at her words and she couldn't help but feel a bit happy knowing that he was finally beginning to understand why she was like the way she was right now. "What do you mean we are all dead? Is that what you saw in your dream?"

She didn't say anything but she knew that he would get her response anyways. The silence only strengthened the seriousness of what she was trying to tell him. Arya lifted her head from her spot on his arm and turned around to face him; he didn't un-wrap his arms around her. She waited until she was sure he wasn't going to say anything and then put her head against his chest to give some comfort to him and take some of the comfort he was offering. "That's what I saw, Alec. It is what I saw and it is what I can't and won't forget. The dream was bad enough when it was my people…but don't you understand? I can't lose all of you; my friends, just because of something I selfishly asked of all of you. Especially…"

She caught herself quickly before she said his name. She wasn't sure now was the time to tell him about her feelings towards him and she definitely knew that he had other things on his mind; so whatever she wanted say to him would have to wait for some other time. He continued to stay quiet but she could tell by the rapid sound of his heart that he was hurt and surprised by what she told him.

They stayed that way for an unknown amount of time and she was beginning to finally calm down; her eyelids felt heavy but she was trying her hardest not to fall asleep. And as bad as it sounded to herself, she was actually enjoying being held in his arms; though she couldn't tell him that. She heard him cough briefly and she moved away from his arms to fall back on the ground in front of him. They stayed quiet, each thinking about the same thing, but neither wanting to voice what was on their minds. Arya slowly pulled herself into an upright position, staring down at the kneeling figure of the warrior.

"Well…thanks." He looked up at her for a second before nodding his head in her direction and pulling himself up in the process. "No problem…but you know Arya…everything is going to work itself out, remember that." She looked up into his blue eyes and saw complete hope and trust, in their mission. She swallowed the bile that suddenly rose in the back of her throat and shook her head in silent disbelief. "I'm not sure Alec. I am really not sure." She gazed silently down at her boots trying to make out the little designs in the wood beneath them.

Arya heard his slight intake of breath; like he wanted to say something but he didn't. She felt him walk past her and out the door while she stood still…almost afraid that if she moved and looked back up at him she wouldn't be able to hold back the tears she felt threatening to spill over. When she heard the click of the handle behind her she folded her legs back onto the floor and thought about what just happened.

Telling him had the opposite effect on her than she thought it would; she figured that if she told him what was going on she would be able to deal with it better than the way she was before but it didn't work. She felt worse than she did before and she knew that she wasn't going to be able to get over seeing her dead friends faces. And she definitely wasn't going to forget the cold, dead blue eyes of the man she was beginning to love…

It had been four days since her confrontation with Alec in her bedroom and neither had spoken to each other; Arya had rarely spoken to anyone, choosing to revert back into herself so that she wouldn't think about her dreams. But she couldn't run away from her dreams; she was beginning to see the same scene every night in her dreams…she had even gone the past three days without sleep claiming that she wouldn't see the visions if she didn't give them a chance to be given to her.

But even though she hadn't been sleeping they had still found a way into her conscious thoughts and even different objects like a simple tunic on the ground triggered an image of the death of her friends. Everything she tried, everything she did was to be able to hide from the images but she soon realized that as much as she ran away from them they would just come back…worse than before.

Her friends had begun to notice her change in habits and had, each, on occasion tried to get her to go back to bed or to open up a bit and join in on their conversations over meals but nothing worked. Alec had also noticed her sudden quiet, but refused to say anything about it when they asked him. He got the feeling like she didn't want them to know what she had seen in her dream and in a way he agreed with her.

The only one who didn't seem so surprised with Arya's behavior was Silas and Alec figured she had already told him. It irked him to know that he wasn't the only one she had chosen to confide in and he wished that the assassin had never came with them on this trip since Arya tended to gravitate towards him when something was wrong. He shook his head mentally since he knew that he was being an idiot. To make matters worse she also seemed to avoid him at every turn; and that's saying something since they happened to be on a ship…there wasn't many places that she could hide. During the nights he often heard her sneak out of the girls' room to head up to the deck, heard her yells after the dreams and heard the questions her friends asked her when they woke up because of it. But she still refused to say anything.

He was beginning to become rather worried about her but he hoped that when they landed the day after tomorrow she would start feeling a little bit on the better side. They were getting closer to her home so that had to count for something…right? He snorted rudely at the thought of her home and especially one that had kicked her out because she had the nerves to speak out for her people's safety. Even if the two of them weren't exactly on the best terms at the moment, he swore back in her room while he held her that she wouldn't go through this alone…whether she wanted it or not. He would protect her to the best of his abilities and he wouldn't look back in regret.


End file.
